Ravenclaw's Computer
by kgfinkel
Summary: Harry's discovered the legendary Ravenclaw Diadem in the Room of Requirement and has come to a startling conclusion that it's actually a 10th century magical version of a computer/pensieve. The problem is, it's corrupted by Voldemort's Horcrux. How can he and Hermione Granger get rid of the Horcrux while maintaining the beauty of such a ancient treasure?
1. Chapter 1

**Ravenclaw's Computer**

Set during 5th year. Canon Sorting. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger have been actively dating since 4th year when he finally got the gumption to ask her after her amazing ability to get him out of participating in the Tri-Wizard Tournament because of an obscure loophole. Sirius Black is no longer on the run but hasn't received a trial yet (he's in a safehouse guarded by trusted Aurors of Director Amelia Bones). Voldemort did still return but he had to resort to using Cedric as the unwilling blood sacrifice. When Cedric came back and started to make the claims that the Dark Lord had returned, the Ministry tried to discredit him. In this story, Dolores Umbridge is still at Hogwarts as the Ministry plant for DADA/High Inquisitor. She still targets Harry as he made his opinion known that he believes in Cedric's claims. Dobby still ended up showing his beloved 'Great Master Harry Potter and his Miss Grangy' the Room of Requirement when they'd asked him for a place where they could go and hide away from everyone else.

* * *

**Ancient Runes Workshop/Laboratory**

Hermione quietly signed into the laboratory and glanced around at the nearly unoccupied room. There were several tables that held unfinished projects and some scattered notes. She let out a sigh of relief knowing that this was probably the one place in the entire castle that she and Harry could go to without getting hassled by the Toad. Apparently even '_The Umbitch'_ knew not to invade this room making a lot of noise without a damn good reason or fire off spells with her wand. The volatile nature of unfinished runic clusters was… explosive.

She turned and spotted Harry hunched over one such workspace wearing a head mounted magnifier and a scraper held between his lips as he carefully examined what appeared to be a crown of some sort. She sat down next to him and waited for Harry to notice her. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd surprised him when he was working.

* * *

The scent of Hermione's shampoo filled Harry's nostrils and caused him to slow down in his examination of the crown. He glanced up and blinked owlishly at the distorted image of his girlfriend through the magnifier lenses. He could sense that she was smiling at the display and confirmed it a moment later when she reached over and raised the hood out of the way and slipped on his regular glasses.

"Interesting work there, Harry?"

Harry glanced back down at the crown, removed the scraper from between his lips and nodded, "Yup, found this in the Room of Requirement. Strangely enough, it's given me the same sort of slimy feeling that the Diary did back in second year."

Hermione frowned at that, "Do you think that you should be handling it then?"

Harry shook his head in dismissal, "I think I've figured out what the difference is in the activation. The Diary responded when someone wrote in it. This thing, this needs to be worn to trigger the defenses."

Hermione looked closer at the crown. Her eyes widened comically and she let out a gasp of recognition, "Harry! That looks like the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw!"

Harry turned it over and around in his hands, "Yeah, I guess it is. It's also something more than that."

She tried to wrap her mind around the fact that Harry had discovered one of the greatest lost magical treasures in the past thousand years yet was acting so nonchalant.

"It's also a computer."

"…"

Harry looked up when there wasn't any sound coming from his girlfriend. The look on her face would suggest that she'd been petrified again.

"Hermione?" He waved a hand in front of her face.

"A… computer? That's impossible. Computers, modern computers at least, didn't get their start until the 1950s."

Harry nodded, "I know that. What I'm holding here is a runic version of a modern computer. Here, look at the back of the crown under the magnifier." He held out the visor and scooted back to let her get a better angle of viewing in the light. He knew she spotted what it was that led him to that conclusion when she let out a strangled squeal of surprise.

Hermione flopped back down into her chair and covered her eyes, letting out a low moan, "Argh, I just realized something. You said you felt the same sort of evilness within the Diadem. That means it's corrupted in some way, right? Nooo… It's going to need to be destroyed." She let her head flop back against the wall and grumbled about idiotic dark lords messing around with priceless historical artifacts.

* * *

Harry let her grumble and groan for a moment before suggesting his idea and the reason why he was in the workshop to begin with.

"I think I can repair it, Hermione." She brought her head up and stared at him bemusedly. "Think about it. What we have here is an ancient runic version of a modern computer, right? I'm a rune savant, you're a tech genius. Between the two of us as well as having easy access to the prior work and knowledge done by the world's computer scientists in the muggle world, not to mention that we can get our hands on the tools needed to repair it."

The gleam of interest returned to her eyes as she squinted, cocked her head a bit and held out her hand for the Diadem and magnifier again. While she was taking another look, Harry pulled out his sketches of the rune pathways he'd isolated and determined their function. He also pulled out similar diagrams of modern computer parts and placed them side by side with their magical counterparts. When she finished her examination, she replied that they could at the very least recreate the runes to see what they did under normal circumstances.

"I'd already thought of that. Here, I compiled a list of diagrams. On the left, are the muggle schematics of the audio and video drivers, the motherboard, etc. On the right, are the magical counterparts. You remember how Rowena Ravenclaw was reported to being a Seer? I have a sneaky suspicion that she dreamt of today's computer technology and managed to recreate it using medieval magic. From what I've already determined, the jewels act as the CPU chips and some of the larger components you'd find in a motherboard. There is a line of clusters down at the bottom of the Diadem that appears to act as a scanner and power tap to look into the wearer's head as well as tap into a tiny bit of their magic. What I need help with is figuring out where the corruption lies. Does it lie within the main processor? Is it in the ROM or one of the secondaries?"

Hermione silently took in all of his questions and observations, she read the schematics carefully before stopping his now rambling speech, "Do you have a way to test the individual drivers and circuits without activating the whole thing?" He nodded and pointed to a tablet that was lying at the top end of the table.

"Runic version of a breadboard. I created it back in third year to test out some of my ideas."

She smiled warmly at his genius. She loved it when he let his brains out to play, unlike in first year when he'd been a scared and shy firstie who was determined to hold onto Ronald Weasley's 'friendship' for whatever reason. She was grateful and happy that he'd had ditched the redheaded git that first Halloween after rescuing her from the Troll. Looking back between the charts in her hands and the Diadem sitting seemingly benignly on the table, she sighed.

"It's too bad I can't bring my diagnostic equipment here to school. The magic in the air would fry them."

Harry looked puzzled for a moment before letting out an 'aha' sort of gasp. He dove into his backpack and rummaged around for a moment before triumphantly holding up what looked like a deck of cards. He pulled off the rubber band holding them together and flipped through the selection before removing one and placing it on the table in front of her with a big grin on his face.

With a confused look on her own face, Hermione gingerly picked up the card and looked over the cluster. It took a moment before she realized what it was she was looking at.

With trembling fingers, she gently placed the card back on the table and gazed lovingly at her boyfriend, "I could so kiss you into next week if that card is what I think it is."

Harry's grin could only be described as 'dopey,' "If you're thinking that the card would nullify the destructive nature of magic in the presence of muggle electronics while at the same time using the energy to power said devices then I should learn to hold my breath."

* * *

Taking and releasing a deep breath, Hermione leant back again after giving Harry a toe-curling kiss. She scrubbed her hands through her hair and reached to examine some of his notes.

"Have you been able to isolate any of the other features yet?"

Harry mutely nodded and used the scraper point to trace the circuitry of the lower band, "Yeah, I was able to isolate the power tap array and checked to see if it would power up using one of my cards. It draws in ambient magical energy and converts it to whatever the device requires. In this case, the computer runs at about 33MHz while drawing about 12 volts DC."

Hermione looked puzzled, "How does magical energy translate to DC energy?"

Harry shrugged, "We're no closer to understanding the underlying principles of what magic is than for me to figure out how the conversion works. All I can figure is that magic must be just another form of energy as we both know from primary science class, energy cannot be created or destroyed, merely changed, right?"

Hermione bobbled her head as she accepted that premise.

"So to continue, I ran my diagnostic card on the power tap, the scanner, as well as the audio driver. All of it checks out fine. I was just about to check the motherboard itself and the BIOS but I wanted to hold off until I got your impression and any suggestions on how to proceed."

"Well, I think you should hold off until I can get my gear here. I'll need to write to my parents and have them box it up and send it through the mail. Speaking of which, do you know how to ship to Hogwarts using the Royal Mail?"

"Nope, not a clue. I suppose we should speak with Professor McGonagall about that."

* * *

Hermione waited for Harry at the door to the laboratory as she patiently watched him clean up his workstation. He placed the Diadem into a protective box and gathered up his notes before dropping the lot into his knapsack. He gazed around to make sure nothing was left out that could be a danger to anyone else and removed a card from the lighted swing arm before turning and heading to where Hermione stood.

"What was that last card you removed? The one from the swing arm?"

"Hmm? Oh, the normal light used is too yellow for my tastes. That card alters the wavelength into a brighter white akin to a fluorescent tube but without the annoying flicker."

* * *

The two fifth years managed to navigate the halls avoiding the roving patrols of Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad. It was the last thing either one of them needed, Harry especially. After all, carrying around the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw in an ordinary knapsack could start a riot if word got out. After knocking on their Head of House's office door, they heard a Scottish accented voice call for them to enter.

"Mr. Potter. Miss Granger. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

Hermione stepped forward, "Professor, what is the normal method for a muggleborn or their parents to ship bulky items through the Royal Mail to the castle?"

A thin eyebrow rose in silent question.

"I need some of my diagnostic tools from home to assist me in an Ancient Runes project," Hermione explained further. The eyebrow came down and the professor's lips pursed in thought.

"Well, the 'normal' method would be for your parents to just go to Diagon Alley's Owl Post Office and ship it directly. The method you are questioning is a bit more temperamental. One would have to address the items to Box 934 at any of the post offices in a double envelope. The inner envelope is then addressed to yourself or whomever you're sending it to. The second method is slower because you have to not only wait on the speed of the normal muggle mail system but also for a representative of the magical mail service to go and pick it up. If I remember correctly, the representative only gathers the mail once a week but I'm not sure as to which day."

Hermione looked thoughtful and tapped her chin with a finger as she quickly and silently worked out how long it would take her parents to crate and ship her gear.

Harry then asked how much such a service cost.

Professor McGonagall tugged off her glasses and let them dangle on a chain around her neck while she rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Direct from Diagon Alley, I think it's 4 Galleons for a crate measuring one meter square. I'm sorry; I don't know what the height restrictions are. I also don't know what the conversions would be if you were to take the indirect method."

"Could we use your Floo to contact them and find out?" Hermione asked.

Minerva shrugged, "I don't see why not. The Floo powder is in the vase on the mantle, the address is Diagon Alley Post Office."

* * *

While Hermione was busy making the Floo call, Harry was being questioned by the professor on some of his latest experiments with runes. He replied that his Runic Deck of Cards were working out splendidly and handed the set over. He was in the middle of pointing out one particular feature when there was a loud banging on the office door and a screeching voice emanating from the other side.

"Minerva! Open up! By the order of myself, the High Inquisitor, I demand that you open this door immediately!"

Minerva let out a low hiss of disapproval and rose to her feet, purposely taking her sweet time to reach the door. Harry grunted in amusement at the mini rebellion. Hermione took no notice as she was still in the middle of her call.

The door burst open and Dolores Umbridge waddled in a pink clad fury, "Minerva! You deliberately kept me waiting. That is totally unacceptable. Now, I have been alerted to an unauthorized Floo call being held here in the castle. I suspect Potter to be trying to contact Sirius Black or some other subversive member of Dumbledore's coterie." She pulled up short and her chins wobbled a bit when she spotted Harry sitting in front of Minerva's desk and nowhere even close to the fireplace.

With a sweeping gesture, Minerva gleefully and condescendingly pointed out Dolores' error, "See? Mr. Potter couldn't _possibly_ be trying to contact anyone unless he's doing it with the power of his mind. Now, if that's all Dolores?"

Umbridge just huffed in indignation and ignored Minerva's invitation to leave, pushing past the elder professor to further examine the room. Just as she rounded the desk, she spotted Hermione's body sticking out of the fireplace and yelled in righteous anger.

"I knew it! I knew that there was an unauthorized Floo call being placed!" She started reaching for Hermione with a fat fingered hand, "I'll have you in detention now."

With a sudden burst of light and a stinging hex hitting her hand, Dolores yelped and leapt back before crashing to the floor in a heavy thud. Minerva stood over her, glaring her anger at the rotund, toad-like nuisance.

"Pulling anyone out of the middle of a Floo call is a dangerous thing to do! You could've injured her greatly and I won't have my students put in harm's way by their…professors." Minerva raged.

Dolores pointed one fat finger at Hermione who was just now completing her call, "That call was unauthorized and you are interfering with my job!"

Minerva sat down heavily in her chair and sighed with great annoyance, "Dolores, you're making a fool of yourself as usual. The call in question went to the Diagon Alley Post Office and was an inquiry into their shipping fees. I had forgotten a specification and since Miss Granger was available, I asked her to do it while I continued my conversation with Mr. Potter. Now, does _that_ satisfy your incessant questioning?"

Dolores rose to her feet and tried to draw herself up into something resembling a commanding presence. To Harry's mind, it just made her look like she'd gotten hit with a Bowel Loosening Hex. The squat toad gave one last warning about trying to usurp her authority to bring order and discipline to the castle before storming out. Harry silently glanced between his Head of House and his girlfriend, the latter who was staring at the remnants of the scene in puzzlement, and shook his head in exasperation.

"Professor? I don't understand why you put up with her. Don't you outrank a High Inquisitor or whatever it is she thinks she is?" Harry inquired as he gathered up his rune cards.

Minerva let out another grumble of dissension, only some of the words were intelligible, "Unfortunately not. The position of High Inquisitor is an old one, dating back to the time of the Founders and therefore is in its own rank separate from the one set down by the Board of Education. Believe me, if it was possible, I'd personally launch her through the Floo back into the Ministry where she came from." She turned to Hermione, "Did you find out the information you were asking about?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, Professor. The crate needs to measure no more than a meter square and half that, high. The cost is 4 Galleons one way and can be ready to ship the moment my parents sign it over."

"Did you ask how it's being shipped? I can't see them using an owl to lift such a heavy crate," Harry temporized.

Hermione nodded at that, "The clerk said they use a house-elf for the larger transports." Harry made a semi-interested grunt of reply to that.

After thanking their Head of House, the two trekked back up to their Common Room where Hermione went in search of her writing tools and a roll of parchment. Harry in the meantime went in search of the Weasley Twins to share an idea he'd had for a prank rune.

* * *

**[A/N: Whew! So that's the beginning of a whole new story that's been floating around in my mind after a conversation I had on the Harmony & Co.'s Facebook page. It's tough for me to describe anything technical without making it read like a bone-dry government manual. Did this flow right to you all? Please leave a comment, compliment or suggestion! Thanks.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Transfiguration Classroom 2 days later**

"Why won't this work?" Harry grumbled as he waved his wand in what he thought was the proper manner for the Switching spell. He scrunched his face up and consulted his notes but shook his head as he just couldn't remember if it was a flick to the right or the left. _'What about that counter-clockwise twist I thought I saw?' _Puzzled, he let out a frustrated groan and raised his wand once more. Just as he was about to go through the motion _again_, Hermione's hand appeared over his and guided him on the proper positioning. He glanced over at his girlfriend and was rather surprised to see her still reading through her notes whilst simultaneously helping him.

Professor McGonagall smirked at the scene. It was a pleasant change of pace from the earlier years when Harry used to get cranky if he couldn't figure out the methodology and sulk before raising his hand. Heaven help the girl when she tried to help the youngest Weasley. The sneering attitude was palpable even up at her desk; it had gotten so bad at one point that she was forced to assign a detention to the boy.

* * *

As they were leaving the class to head to lunch, Harry pulled Hermione off to the side and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Thanks for the help today, Hermione. I couldn't figure out for the life of me that particular wave of the wand."

Hermione blushed and waved off the compliment, "It's no problem, Harry."

As they walked through the corridors, Harry spotted Draco Malfoy gesturing widely and practically growling at Crabbe and Goyle. He wondered what it was this time that set off the blonde ponce but didn't want to go investigate and get dragged into another 'adventure in pureblood idiocy.'

* * *

**Great Hall Lunch Time**

Harry was building his lunch plate when he started smelling something like fertilizer. Glancing off to his left, he spotted Neville approaching and waved the boy over.

"Hey, Nev. Did you just come from the greenhouses?"

Neville Longbottom's face registered surprise. Harry was known for great insights at the weirdest times but this took the cake. He slowly nodded, "Yeah…how'd you know that?"

"You smell like fertilizer. I could smell it the moment you got near me." Harry chuckled.

Neville grunted and sniffed at his hands and arms, the distinctive 'aroma' of dragon fertilizer was clear as day, "I could've sworn that I scrubbed my hands."

Harry patted the other boy on the shoulder, "Don't worry about it too much, mate. It's just one of those things that is distinctly you. Like red hair for the Weasleys." Neville relaxed as he laughed.

"Speaking of the Weasleys," Hermione interjected, "Did you notice that Ronald is actually studying?"

Both boys' heads immediately swiveled in Ron's direction where he was in fact reading from an open textbook whilst simultaneously writing notes down and eating a sandwich.

"Huh," mused Neville, "I wonder what it was that caused Hell to freeze over?" Both Harry and Hermione giggled at that. Hermione noticed where the Twins were sitting. She cocked her head in thought as she witnessed them appearing to take notes over Ronald's behavior.

"I think the Twins pranked Ronald but I'm not really sure as to how," she murmured just loud enough for the two boys to hear. Harry tilted his head to see Fred glancing at a pocket watch and write something down in a journal while George was examining a sheaf of notes. Harry picked up his wand and sent a mild Banishing charm, something akin to nothing more powerful than a poke in the arm, at George causing the older boy to look up. Harry waved him over…

* * *

Plunking themselves down across from the trio, George and Fred's faces had that legendary smirk of theirs. The one that promised no end of frustration in McGonagall when she would be forced to deal with the fallout of whatever had been accomplished.

"So what is it…"

"…the Great Harry Potter"

"Requests of us…"

"Can you two quit with the twin pong thing, guys? Be nice and I'll introduce you to Padfoot," Harry grumbled at their antics. At the mention of the nickname of one of the Twins' heroes, both redheads immediately settled down.

"Now," Harry began, "What did you do to your youngest brother? He and books are like oil and water, normally."

George (at least Hermione _thought_ it was George) chuckled, "We secretly gave him a bag of sweets that have been…altered a bit. They have an addition that compels the eater to act in a certain way. In this case, we've compelled Ron to believe that if he doesn't study, he won't be allowed to eat anymore. It's not super powerful; after all we don't need to turn him into another Hermione." He smirked sweetly at the now scowling girl.

Neville burst out laughing, "How long does it take to wear off?"

Fred shrugged his shoulders, "At this dosage, about an hour but we can tweak it to get him to study for up to six."

Hermione shook her head, "You know your mother is going to complain, don't you?"

Both twins grinned evilly as they shook their heads, "Funnily enough, it was mum who gave us the idea. She got our reports when they last came out and complained about Ron's low scores. She made an off-hand comment to Dad about how she wished there was some way to get him to think about studying more often as opposed to thinking about stuffing his face. We just took that idea and ran with it. If she _does_ find out, we'll remind her of that day."

Neville remarked about what McGonagall would think about this sweet compulsion if she were to ever find out about it and whether or not she'd make it mandatory for all students who were failing their courses because of laziness. The twins looked contemplative while Hermione looked scandalized and Harry snorted and took another bite of his stew.

A few minutes later, one of the sixth year Gryffindor prefects strolled over and whispered in Hermione's ear that Professor McGonagall needed to speak with her rather urgently and handed the girl a note as to where to meet. Curious and also a bit worried, she and Harry abandoned their lunch, made their excuses to leave and hurried out of the Hall.

* * *

Arriving at their destination, both could hear Umbridge's annoying faux girlish voice arguing about something.

"I don't care _what_ it is, it's obviously _something_ muggle and therefore needs to go!"

The pair entered the classroom where they found both McGonagall and Umbridge examining the contents of a wooden packing crate. Minerva was holding a keyboard in her hands and examining the construction. Hermione's eyes widened and a smile burst on her face.

"It came! Awesome, now I can get started on my Runes project," she exclaimed causing the two adults to turn to the interruption.

"Miss Granger? What is all of this?" Minerva inquired gesturing to all the equipment.

"They're the equipment I wrote to my parents for; they're used to diagnose problems with computers and other electronic devices. I'm working in conjunction with Harry here to test the sensitivity of his Runic Function Cards," she explained.

Umbridge sneered at her, "Surely you don't think that these _muggle_ contraptions are better than anything magical, even if it was designed by Potter here?" Harry gave the toad a sideways glance at the implied insult to his creations.

"Hermione drew herself up in indignation and gave the toad a McGonagall-worthy glare, "These are top of the line diagnostic tools that I've taken the liberty of improving to my own specifications. Just because _you_ don't understand or appreciate them, does _not _mean that you get to insult my property."

Dolores gave back a sneer of her own, "Just remember I'm watching you, girl. _Any_ subversive actions and I'll have you expelled and arrested." With a final huff, the toad waddled out of the room.

* * *

After the door closed and silence returned to the room, Minerva turned to her favorite students and inquired what the real project was.

"I know that Mr. Potter's cards are just fine. Professor Babbling praises them often enough."

Harry glanced at Hermione who in turn silently gestured with a tilt of her head to Harry's knapsack which contained the Diadem. Silently shrugging his shoulders, he indicated with a cock of his own head that it was up to her. Minerva chuckled internally at the nonverbal communication that was going on.

Finally a decision was reached, "Professor, what I'm about to share with you needs to be kept in the strictest confidence. _No one_ must be told about this. The item is corrupted with Dark Magic that needs to be expelled and until then, it's safer with me," Harry replied solemnly. Minerva's eyes widened a bit at his explanation.

Nodding her head once, Minerva gestured for him to proceed. The look on her face as the Diadem was exposed was priceless.

It had taken the better part of a half hour to explain what it was they found, the theory as to what the Diadem truly was and what the pair's intention was in trying to fix it. At the end of their explanations, Minerva called for an elf to take the crate and its contents to the Runes lab and bid her charges to follow.

"Why couldn't I share the knowledge of this with Headmaster Dumbledore?" Minerva inquired as she nervously examined the Diadem while Hermione was busy supervising the elf where to put the crate.

Harry sighed in frustration at the man's name, "The headmaster seems to be taking an unusual amount of involvement with my life. It's almost like he's testing me for something. I don't like the fact that he's nosing into my business and trying to dictate who I should or shouldn't be friends with, where I should or shouldn't live outside of school and more. It's creepy to think about, really."

* * *

**Ancient Runes Laboratory**

Hermione was clearly in her element as she began uncrating her beloved equipment. She was muttering under her breath as if the oscilloscope and laptop were living, breathing creatures. She carefully examined each and every tool, wire and notebooks as if they were potentially damaged before setting things up on an empty workspace as she wanted. Harry and Minerva watched on in amusement at the behavior of the bushy haired girl.

Hermione happened to glance up and spotted the amused grins on the other two's faces, "What?"

Harry grinned widely, waved his hand negligently and shook his head, "Nothing. It's just funny to see you like this. Keep going."

* * *

Once everything was set up, Harry placed the Diadem on the table in front of his girlfriend and stepped back to let her work. He handed her the Function cards for null-space, ambient power tap and function bus. Puzzled, Hermione gestured to the last one and was told what its purpose was before nodding and reaching for her magnifying lenses. Harry attached the card to alter the lighting to the swing arm and waved for her to begin.

"Okay, let's see…" She turned the Diadem over in her hands as she examined it from every angle. The connective pathways seemed to be in good shape, there was a minimal amount of corrosion on the pins holding the jewels that tied them into the rest of the circuit, there appeared to be no evidence of any external corruption. She leant forward and retrieved a set of leads from where they were hanging on a hook and clipped one end to the power input array on the Diadem, the other ends to the power bus card then attached the bus card to the ambient magical power supply card. Next, she attached a set of cables to the Diadem's data input array and connected them to her laptop. She switched her attention to her laptop and reached for the null-space card.

"Harry? Where does this one go?"

He reached around her and applied it to the back of the computer casing. Then he attached a set of leads to the bus card, "There, try it now. You should be able to turn it on." With a flip of a switch, the computer monitor came to life and started running through its own power up sequence.

* * *

Minerva sat back in an empty chair and watched mesmerized at the interaction between the two teens. She marveled at the short, clipped conversation full of technical jargon that she had no hopes in translating. Phrases like 'Traceroute,' 'speedtest' and PING utility' were heard and puzzled over. She shook her head and began making plans to get the Muggle Studies class updated.

* * *

"So what are you doing first?" Harry asked as unfamiliar information scrolled up on the screen of her laptop.

"I'm running a system information query. Basically what my computer is doing is talking to the Diadem and seeing if there's a common language. Kind of like how when you go to a foreign country and ask a person, 'Do you understand English?' The Diadem can then answer 'yes or no.' If it's yes, then mine will go further and start asking other questions about what sort of BIOS specifications it has, what sort of memory storage capacity it has, stuff like that." Harry nodded understandingly while Minerva just looked lost.

"Assuming that the query checks out, what then?"

"Well, then I get to run a couple of programs to determine what is potentially wrong with it. I can run a start-up test, a run-in test which is a stress test to verify the stability of the system components and finally the hard disk test though I don't have a clue as to what a 10th century version of a hard disk would even look like."

Harry pursed his lips in thought before pointing at one of the jewels, "I'd imagine that these jewels could be the equivalent of a hard disk. Question is; which one? I would hazard a guess that the large central jewel would be the primary CPU while the smaller ones would be the RAM cards? Also, what would you do if whatever this corruption is infects your computer?" Hermione shrugged nonchalantly as she read what came up on the screen.

"If it gets infected, I can easily wipe the memory and reload it with my backups. Interesting, this thing has a lot more capability than I thought was possible for something so old," she murmured.

"Like what?"

"Well, I think this," she pointed to a line item, "Is a version of a network card. If I understand this, the user would be able to 'see' what was going on in the castle remotely."

Minerva perked up at that, "What do you mean remotely, Miss Granger?"

Hermione cocked her head and thought of a good analogy, "You know how you can see distances using that scrying spell?" Minerva nodded, "This might be something similar but using the castle's wards to do so."

"So I'd be able to see within an area like the Slytherin Common Room, for example just by wearing this and thinking of what I needed?"

Hermione shrugged and gestured helplessly with her hands, "I'm not sure, Professor. Most of this is guesswork. We're trying to comprehend a 10th century marvel with modern comparisons. Something might get lost in translation."

* * *

"Harry? Let me see those notes you wrote on the separate hardware components." He handed her the stack, "Okay, sound card…audio…optical? Why and where would you even put a CD in something like this? Oh, wait…yeah, I guess that would work." She muttered as she read through the listing.

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione turned to look at Minerva, "Hmm? Oh, sorry professor. These are specific arrays on the Diadem that allow the user to hear and see what's being played back to them. The last one is a method to load information into the device but _normally_ it's a thin disc-shaped object. In this case, the user's mind acts as the disc that the Diadem uses to load information or memories into active usage. Clever really, back then Lady Ravenclaw wouldn't have had the manufacturing ability to create discs I'm used to today so she used a magical method to simulate it."

"Have you figured out where the corruption is and how it interferes with the normal operation?" asked Harry.

Hermione nibbled on her lower lip and shook her head, "Not at this point. I'll need to keep looking."

* * *

Later after a dinner brought to them by Dobby, the two teens and Minerva speculated on where they might be able to find clean jewels. Hermione thought that they might be able to find them in the Room.

"I think I need to see this room for myself," Minerva commented dryly, "It sounds like an interesting place."

Harry nodded as he described some of the things they'd seen in there. Old furniture, paintings, sculptures and books were just some of the items they'd recognized from a cursory look the first time through.

"Would you have a problem if I were to include the other professors in this search through this fantastic room of yours?" Minerva questioned hopefully. She really didn't like keeping secrets from the other staff.

Harry shrugged as he glanced over at his girlfriend who bobbled her head in acquiescence, "Who'd you have in mind?"

"Well, at the very least we should include Madam Pince to verify and look over the books. Professors Flitwick and Snape would probably be interested as well. Professor Sprout would most likely come along to provide additional support if it's needed."

Harry gestured in thought with his hand, "As long as they're not told as to _why_ we're specifically looking for these gems other than it's for a Runes project and also to not mention this to the headmaster, I don't have a problem with it." Minerva nodded once and thanked him.

* * *

**[A/N: Well, there you have it. Too much? Not enough? Heh, sounds like a Goldilocks question. Anyways, please read and review.]**


	3. Chapter 3

**[A/N: I love writing about the possibilities of things that could be found in the Room of Requirement.]**

**Ancient Runes Laboratory**

Hermione retook her seat in front of her computer and the Diadem; she entered in a string of commands to begin running the series of tests she'd told Harry about. When the tests began, the Diadem's jewels began to sparkle. All three were amazed though Hermione was a little less impressed.

"Why is it doing that, Miss Granger?" Minerva questioned, still a tad overwhelmed.

"I'm guessing that the sparkling is just an indication that power and the tests are being performed. Kind of like what the lights within my computer are doing to indicate that work is being done." She turned her laptop around so they could sort of see inside.

When the diagnostic began the 'memcheck test', one of the larger jewels began to glow a sort of sick color and emit a bit of an oily black smoke. It was then Hermione's laptop stopped its check and began listing error messages.

She nodded thoughtfully at what she read, "Yup, the drive is corrupted and therefore unreadable. Well, at least now I know what a 10th century version of a hard drive looks like." She pulled off a section of electrical tape from her toolbox, picked up a red paper tag and wrote something on it then affixed it to the jewel with the tape.

Harry pointed at the tag in silent inquiry.

"That's just to let me know where the drive is and that it's busted. If we do find a replacement jewel in the Room, then I'll hopefully be able to replace it. If not, like I said; it'll just be a shiny object."

While Minerva was sitting there with a bit of a lost expression on her face and Hermione was taking notes of what had transpired; Harry asked the important question.

"Have you figured out as to how you're going to be able to program a new drive assuming you find the right jewel?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders distractedly as she finished writing her notes, "I hope that Rowena's journals could be found in the Room. I guess if they're not there, we could ask Helena if they might be in her mother's old suite."

"Where would that be?"

Again with the shrug, "Dunno. We'll deal with that when the time comes."

When she finished her notes and assisted Harry in dismantling the diagnostic array, she turned to her Head of House.

"Professor? When would be a good time to meet with the rest of the staff? Also, do you think it'd be possible to keep the headmaster and Professor Umbridge out of such a meeting?"

Minerva drew in a deep breath as she came back to life and nodded, "Yes, I think a meeting would be a good idea. How about tomorrow morning in the teacher's staffroom? Say around 8 am? I can contact them directly tonight after dinner. I think that'd be the best way to keep both Albus, er…the headmaster and Madam Umbridge from attending."

* * *

**Teacher's staffroom, the next morning**

Harry and Hermione nervously entered the room; it wasn't every day that a student had reason to enter such a place. Harry glanced around and snorted lightly after seeing that there wasn't anything to suggest that this was some sort of mystical place where the adults of the school came to discuss esoteric magic but in reality was just a room that housed an assortment of chairs, sofas and low tables. There was a coffeemaker and tea service in one corner and about a half dozen smaller windows lining the room. Several vintage posters dotted the wall opposite of the windows.

"I don't know what I was expecting but this wasn't it," Hermione commented dryly.

"Right? I was…" Harry began but stopped as the rest of the staff minus Dumbledore and Umbridge entered. Minerva greeted the two students and called for everyone's attention.

"Okay, here's the situation. Mr. Potter and Miss Granger have discovered two miraculous things within these walls. One is a room that is supposed to be a deep storage sort of place with the added benefit of becoming whatever the user wishes. The other item, Filius you will be surprised to learn, is they've found the Diadem of Ravenclaw."

Loud mutterings and cries of disbelief erupted from the others and the sound of a teacup crashing to the floor. Filius was standing there over the remains of his teacup still holding a spoon with his mouth hanging open and eyes bugged out, "You're, you're joking right? Ravenclaw's Diadem? You have it with you?" He asked that last question with grasping hands.

Harry stepped forward a bit, "I did find the Diadem however it seems to be corrupted. It appears to have a defensive method of injuring the user if they try to wear it. As near as Hermione and I can figure, the hard drive contains a virus of some sort."

Puzzled looks appeared on the staff's faces. Minerva grimaced in commiseration, "I know how you're feeling right now, I went through something similar last night when these two resoundingly demonstrated just how out of touch we've gotten with the non-magical world." She gestured to Harry to continue.

Harry pulled over a table and pulled out the Diadem from his knapsack. The staff crowded in to lay their eyes on the near mythical and thoroughly legendary device. Hermione giggled at the sight of Professor Flitwick bug-eyed and practically drooling at the thought of being so close to his House's most prized possession.

Severus Snape, the school's Potions teacher, waved his hand in the direction of the Diadem, "Where did you find this? Many others have searched for it and have come back empty-handed."

Harry picked up the Diadem and returned it to his knapsack, "That leads us to the next part of this gathering. There's a room on the seventh floor, a room of untold abilities. Follow us and we'll show you something spectacular."

* * *

**Seventh floor opposite of the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy**

"Whew! What a climb! Makes me glad that my House is only one flight down from the Great Hall," grumbled Professor Sprout, "Now I understand why Filius and Minerva are always in shape."

The others chuckled at their colleague's perceived discomfort before turning back to the pair of students who stood there with smug grins on their faces.

Hermione began the explanations, "Okay, so to begin with, the elves of the castle already know where this room is and how to operate it. In fact it was a particular elf that Harry and I are familiar with that showed us how to find it. What you'd need to do is to pace three times in front of the wall opposite of that hideous tapestry thinking about what sort of form you need the room to take. In this case, I want to find the 'Room of Hidden Things.'" With that final statement, Hermione began her pacing. At the completion of the third pass, a door faded into existence much to the surprised gasps of the assembled staff.

Harry reached out and opened the door, gesturing grandly, "Welcome to the Room of Requirement."

* * *

_**Inside the Room of Hidden Things**_

Not a sound was heard, not even from breathing as the teachers could only stare in wonder and not a little trepidation at the amount of…stuff piled up in front of them. They could see that there were avenues and even narrow pathways branching off from where they were standing. There was a small, elegant looking table standing next to Harry. On it lay what appeared to be a map.

Hermione picked it up and glanced up at the ceiling, "Thank you, Hogwarts. Okay, it appears that the jewelry department," she heard Harry laugh at that, "is off to the left. I say we all stick together as you never know what you might find in here." She pointed in the general direction of one of the wider avenues and turned to look at her Head who nodded.

The two teens led the adults through a Hogwarts' version of Wonderland. Madam Hooch, the flying instructor, let out a sort of strangled squeal of delighted surprise when she discovered several brand-new looking vintage style brooms stacked up in a corner. Professor Snape's eyebrows had practically vanished into his hairline when he spotted several vials of unidentified potions, jars of potential ingredients and more cauldrons than a person could shake a wand at. Madam Pince, the librarian had burst into tears when she spotted bookcases filled to bursting with lost tomes.

Filius approached Minerva and the two were quietly whispering as they continued to follow Harry and Hermione deeper into this wonderful cave of treasures.

"I think that we need to get organized here if we're ever going to see what else is here that could be potentially damaging to the students and us," Filius murmured.

"I agree. I think we should coordinate with the elves since they're already familiar with this place. No need to endanger the students with anything this explosive," she replied as they passed what appeared to be a life-sized stuffed troll.

Surprise and stunned disbelief continued to be the order for the day when the group reached the 'jewelry department' as Hermione had described. There were baskets of individual gemstones, both finished and uncut; buckets of pearls, either in necklaces or individually; bejeweled swords, parts from ceremonial armor and large chests filled to overflowing with all manner of 'shiny.'

Professor Sinastra, the Astronomy teacher, commented off-handedly that if these jewels and whatnot were actually worth something, the school would no longer have to worry about obtaining the necessary funding to buy or replace broken equipment. As the resident half Goblin, Filius stepped forward, waved his wand over a bucket of gemstones to check for illicit charms before scooping up a rather largish ruby. He pulled out a magnifier and examined the stone.

His shaking hands clued the others into the suspicion that these things were valuable. Very valuable…

* * *

_**Later that day, still in the Room…**_

Harry had taken a break from the excavation of the Room and plunked himself down onto a rather comfy Greek-style settee. He watched with tired eyes and chuckled to himself as he watched the teachers act like little children as they hurried from one spot to the next, calling out various exclamations and exaltations. Hermione too, was part of the organized chaos that would erupt at random points and locations as she searched for the gemstone she needed for the Diadem. Harry sighed as he relaxed and started reminiscing about how the two of them even got together.

_Flashback Year One:_

_Like all great moments in history, they had met on the train on the first of September as it steamed its way up North. She had entered his compartment inquiring about a lost pet toad for a boy named Neville Longbottom. Harry's other compartment companion, Ronald Weasley, made some rude comment about having a toad as a pet. Harry tuned out the idiot and commented that he'd not seen a toad in there with them but did suggest that they search out one of the prefects as it was their job to handle issues like this. Starting a new school and frankly a whole new world was daunting but soon the two realized that they had plenty of commonalities and therefore began spending time together exploring the school and the grounds. Harry introduced Hermione to Hagrid when the latter invited him to tea. Hermione bonded almost immediately with his owl, Hedwig when they were introduced. Hedwig thoroughly enjoyed the prospect of getting plenty of work from the bushy-haired girl who promised many letters to be sent to her parents._

_Their friendship solidified after their Charms class that Halloween when Hermione was rudely insulted by Ron Weasley after she tried to help him learn to perform the Hover charm. Harry pushed Ron away from him as Hermione ran past, crying. He caught up to her and brought her back where he proceeded to rip strips off of the redheaded git's ego. Harry declared that just because Ron was a complete idiot who'd rather waste his time in school did not give him the right to insult others who came here to learn. With that final bit, Harry declared that whatever fragments of a potential friendship they might've had was now at an end. Harry warned Weasley to just stay away from the both of them, promising swift retribution if he failed to do so._

_It was when the mystery of the Philosopher's Stone began to take form did either realize the brilliance of each other. Harry was amazed at her ability to research while she was amazed at his inherent ability to take a disparate amount of information and make incredible and yet plausible connections on the fly._

_Harry had made a comment after Hermione shared a rather heavy book about the infamous alchemist Nicholas Flamel. Hagrid had inadvertently revealed the information about the wizard after Harry had remarked about discovering a monster dog locked away on the forbidden third floor corridor. Harry had commented that it was highly unlikely that the real stone was here in the castle. When asked to explain, Harry remarked that a man as old as Flamel would've surely had better defenses in place to guard his stuff and that Dumbledore was the age equivalent of a child who would've never been given the real stone to protect in a school full of children._

_The result of that conversation led them to discuss who should be alerted to deal with this information. Hermione was all for letting Professor McGonagall know as not only their Head of House but also the Deputy Headmistress. Harry agreed with the stipulation that the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement know too. He explained that there must be some sort of law that had been broken for using the school and the stone as bait for Voldemort or one of his minions to come and find._

_In the end, a letter explaining the situation was sent out using Hedwig to the Director of Magical Law Enforcement suggesting that they come with reinforcements to the school. They then took their findings and theories to their Head of House. At first, Minerva was all set to give the kids false platitudes and send them on their way but Hermione then mentioned that they just sent a letter to the Director of the DMLE outlining the very same thing. _

_The next day, the Director Amelia Bones and several members of various departments arrived en mass and systematically dismantled all of the so-called 'traps' within the forbidden corridor. The stone was retrieved and removed. Minerva overheard one Unspeakable remark that the stone was a fake, they pointed to an engraving on the bottom that read out, 'Nice try, Albus.'_

* * *

_**Return to the present…**_

Harry shook himself from his reverie and smirked at the sight of his girlfriend as she squealed in delight and danced a bit as she held up a gemstone that fit the requirements. She then turned back again and dug into a chest of rubies to see what else was available.

* * *

_Flashback Year Two:_

_Harry was back at his relative's house when he'd gotten a surprise visit from a strange being known as Dobby the House-elf. After a stilted conversation with the diminutive creature that 'Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts'; Harry had the brilliant idea of having Dobby explain his reasoning and story to his bedroom mirror, thinking that since Dobby's orders were to not tell another person and that his Master obviously didn't think to include Dobby in that order, he could tell his reflection about the 'plot to make bad things happen.'_

_Armed with that knowledge, Harry thanked Dobby. He also surprised the elf in his 'brilliance' when Dobby confessed to confiscating Harry's letters. Harry dryly commented that the muggleborn and raised had other means of communication at their disposal that most magicals would never have thought of and that unless there was something from the bank, then Harry didn't really care that the letters had vanished. Dobby stood there with his mouth hanging open in shock before numbly pulling out the stack, handing it over and vanishing with a crack._

_Harry ended up contacting Director Bones and related everything that had transpired the previous evening. The result was that Lucius Malfoy was arrested for possession of Dark Artifacts and trying to incite acts of terrorism against the general population. The Dark Artifact turned out to be some sort of Diary with the name 'T.M. Riddle' stamped on the back. Harry never heard about it again and had a nice quiet year despite having to deal with an annoying, glory-seeking prat of a Defense teacher in the form of one prancing peacock that was Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart didn't even last the first term when the Weasley Twins concocted some sort of potion which caused the popinjay to confess his sins in front of the entire school population. The man was arrested and an Auror from the DMLE was sent to cover the class._

* * *

_**Back in the present…**_

Harry watched as the professors cleared an area somewhat near the entrance to the Room as a sort of staging area. Minerva was in her element as she organized the clearing out and cataloguing of items that were found. They had discovered quite a bit of interesting objects. Things like antique furniture that could be fixed up and sold, vintage and near mint condition brooms, personal effects of students and staff of years gone by, piles of clothing from various eras, mountains of books, potions and their associated ingredients, and many more that he didn't or couldn't recognize. The elves were flashing in and out of the spaces and piles as they were given their instructions.

* * *

_Flashback Year Three:_

_Supposedly, Sirius Black mass murderer extraordinaire had escaped from Azkaban Prison and was on the hunt to finish what he'd started back in 1981 with the demise of Harry's parents. On the train north, Harry and Hermione met their new Defense professor, Remus Lupin. As the mystery unfolded, Harry finally managed to get the known information about the alleged betrayal from his parents' supposed friend. Demonstrating his brilliance of 'on the fly information assemblage', and combining it with Hermione's talent for research, the two realized that it would've been impossible for Sirius to have killed Peter Pettigrew, the fourth member of his father's school group, the Marauders. The two teens explained their findings to their Head of House as well as Professor Lupin and Director Bones, the latter being invited to the school to hear said findings. Hermione explained that if Pettigrew had been 'blown up' there should've been more body parts lying on the street other than a cleanly severed finger._

_Sirius' whereabouts were finally discovered with the aid of the Marauder's Map, the singular greatest achievement the Marauders had created. Said map was in the possession of the Weasley Twins and explained how they were able to avoid being caught all their years while in school. Professor Lupin confessed as being Moony (which caused the Twins to prostrate themselves on the floor loudly declaring themselves 'not worthy' over and over again) and that Padfoot was really Sirius. Wormtail was in fact Peter Pettigrew while Prongs was actually James Potter. _

_Harry was shocked that his dad was the leader of the Marauders and that the map was effectively an heirloom. Sirius was captured and promised to be given a trial. In the meantime for his safety, he was hidden away in a safehouse and given medical treatment to recover from his time in prison and being on the run. Pettigrew managed to escape during the turmoil of capturing Sirius and the revelations that Lupin was in fact a werewolf and had been since childhood and vanished into the surrounding landscape._

* * *

_**Back to the present…**_

Hermione flopped down on the settee next to Harry, clearly exhausted from the discoveries and trials of the search. She lamented that neither she nor Madam Pince had found any journals belonging to Rowena yet but she was still hopeful that they'd turn up eventually.

"Well, the only other place I can think of where they'd might be if not in the castle would be if she had a vault with Gringott's or somewhere deep in the Department of Mysteries," Harry commented as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, "You going to take a break now? You've been going nonstop for hours."

"Yeah, I think I'll just lay here and take a nap," Putting actions to words, she stretched out on the couch and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

_Flashback Year Four:_

_Fourth year was the announcement that the legendary Tri-Wizard Tournament was going to be held at Hogwarts that year. Excitement and curiosity was rampant as was Harry's trepidation that something bad was going to happen. Well, it tried at least. During the Selection Ceremony, Harry's name had been called but he refused to participate. Dumbledore tried to force the situation but Harry remained steadfast. While the adults argued, Hermione did her part and researched the history of the tournament and the Goblet of Fire itself. She managed to find a loophole buried in the ancient documents that 'if the selected champion was the last surviving member of an established family, he or she may choose to withdraw from said tournament under the guise of protecting and ensuring the continuation of said family.'_

_Dumbledore tried to hush up the knowledge of the loophole but was thwarted by Harry using a hidden Dobby and a DictaQuill writing down everything that had been revealed and explained. He then had Dobby make copies of the writings and sent off to the _Daily Prophet_ as well as the DMLE. The firestorm that resulted was the hot topic of conversation amongst the three schools for days to come. Dumbledore had been raked over the coals for trying to circumvent established procedures, endangerment of a minor and attempted Line Theft of the last surviving member of a Noble and Most Ancient Family, in this case the Potter Family._

_It was an overheard comment from their Professor Snape that some of his stores of ingredients had been broken into and that the shredded Boomslang skin, lacewing flies and a couple of other things suggested that someone was illegally brewing Polyjuice Potion. Showing her usual curiosity, Hermione asked what Polyjuice was, what it smelled and look like. It was fortunate for her that Severus was in a good mood that he bothered to explain the key features._

_Defense professor of the year, former Master Auror Alastor Moody, was captured and revealed to be an imposter after Hermione had noticed that the flask that Moody always drank from smelled suspiciously like Polyjuice. That the imposter was known as Barty Crouch, Junior had everyone in the know shouting cries of 'impossible!' because Crouch Junior was supposed to be dead. The real Alastor Moody was rescued eventually, having been locked away in his traveling trunk._

* * *

_**Back to the present…**_

The staff took a break and was discussing their findings with each other. It was astounding to witness Severus Snape of all people actually appearing to be almost giddy with the discovery of so many rare and expensive potion ingredients just stored away forgotten. Madam Hooch was in talks with Professors Flitwick and Bethesda Babbling, the Ancient Runes teacher, about going through the broom collection later to see which were useful for future classes. Minerva glanced over at where Harry and Hermione were at on the settee; both now had fallen asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

_Flashback to the summer prior to Fifth year and the start of this crazy adventure:_

_Voldemort had found a way to come back during the previous year thanks to the efforts of Pettigrew. The rat had stolen some blood from Cedric Diggory, the Hogwarts Tri-Wizard Champion for use in a disgusting Dark ritual to restore a spirit to its body. Cedric had witnessed the ritual and managed to escape to safety. During the following summer, he'd tried telling everyone about what happened only for the cowardly administration of Cornelius Fudge to deny it ever happen and declare Cedric to be a lying, attention-seeking fool. Cedric had reached out to Harry asking for his support in raising awareness of the Dark Lord's return to the magical world. Harry agreed and went on record to say that Cedric's character was such that it would be impossible for the older boy to be making up stories for attention._

_This led to the attack by two 'rogue' Dementors showing up outside the local park in Little Whinging where Harry and his cousin Dudley were loitering around. Harry managed to repel the Dementors by using his Patronus, a defensive charm he'd learnt back in third year from Professor Lupin. A letter arrived later via owl telling him that he was being charged with using magic in front of a muggle and that he was responsible to present himself for a trial. His uncle tried to use this to get Harry thrown out of his house but was shut down by Dudley surprisingly who told his dad that they'd be dead if it wasn't for Harry._

_Harry's trial was cancelled after he sent a letter to Director Bones explaining what happened and that he was willing to provide a memory of the event. When he got to school, he along with everyone else found out that Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic was going to be their new DADA professor. Known as 'The Toad' or 'The Umbitch' though not within earshot of said woman, Umbridge quickly became the most despised person within the castle walls for her draconian methods of discipline and inability to teach. In her newest effort to wrest control from the established seniority, she recreated (and probably corrupted) the ancient position of High Inquisitor._

* * *

_**Back to the present…**_

Hermione was disappointed to learn that Rowena's journal on how to program the gemstone into being a new hard drive wasn't in the pile of books they'd found that day. She grudgingly admitted that the teachers and elves hadn't even scratched the surface of what was in that room in the short time they'd been there. In the meantime, she did get to keep the gemstone slated for the Diadem as long as she kept it and the location of the others a secret for the time being. As the group descended from the stairs onto the ground floor, they were met by the scowling visage of a disappointed Albus Dumbledore.


	4. Chapter 4

**[A/N: I struggled with this chapter. Writing reactions is tough if you don't want to go overboard too quickly in dealing with an annoying or evil character. Same thing is true with coming up with the chaos from the students.]**

* * *

**While the staff was in the Room of Requirement…**

Albus glanced around the room wondering where everyone was. It was time for the monthly progress update meeting of senior staff and yet it had been nearly ten minutes without anyone else there besides him and Dolores. The two kept shooting disgruntled glances at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking.

Finally, Albus dispiritedly sighed, "Well Dolores, it seems as if we've wasted our time waiting for the others to arrive. I'm going to go and try to find out what happened to them. If I find out anything, perhaps we could reschedule?"

Dolores nodded once before getting up and waddling out of the room. Albus leant back in his chair and stroked his beard in contemplation. After another moment, he too got up and left the room.

* * *

Searching for a single person within the confines of the castle itself would normally be a tremendous undertaking. Fortunately, he was the headmaster and therefore everything and everyone reported to him. It was a heady feeling when he first took the post; the feeling of controlling all that knowledge and potential power was intoxicating and one of the main reasons he was loathe to give it up. He'd passed retirement age a long time ago but the mere thought of handing the reins over to Minerva made him shudder in horror. Who knew what sort of damage might occur to his Greater Good plans if that were to ever happen?

Albus stopped in front of one painting of gossiping women and smiled genially at them as they tittered with the knowledge of some sort of juicy tales.

"Good morning, ladies. I was wondering if you know of the whereabouts of my senior staff? We were supposed to be having a meeting but they never arrived."

The painted women giggled again then nodded that they had indeed heard about where the staff went.

"They all ended up on the seventh floor. The adults met up with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger and are investigating a hidden storage room of some kind."

Albus' face took on a surprised look; inasmuch that was visible given how much of the face fur he had was hiding. _'Hidden storage room on the seventh floor? I don't recall one being that high up in any of the records from the previous heads.'_

* * *

As he made his trek towards the stairs, he was besieged by many students in need of guidance. Normally, they'd have just gone to their Heads of Houses but since none of them could be found and Albus was the only adult in sight; it fell upon him to solve their myriad of problems. After the last difficulty, wherein a first year muggleborn girl had nervously come up to him in search of something called a 'tampon,' and getting a descriptive (and embarrassing) education as to what such an item was, he quickly and quietly sent the poor child to the hospital wing to speak with Poppy. After taking a fortifying breath and a mental promise to have that experience obliviated from his memory, he was set upon a couple of third years who desperately needed his help in reversing a transfiguration experiment gone wrong.

Finally fleeing from the resulting eldritch horror and cordoning off the room from the ever-growing crowds of curious students and hiding in another empty classroom, Albus panted in exhaustion. _'What the heck is Minerva teaching these kids? What in Merlin's name is a Shoggoth? That…thing…I'm going to have nightmares for a week!'_

Then there was that experiment that the Lovegood girl was in the middle of…

* * *

**North side of the castle, unused classroom…**

Albus entered the room after getting reports that someone was trying to recreate a jungle in the North Wing. He stopped at the sight of a myriad of large, leafy plants and trailing flowers bursting from an open door. The lush and sweat inducing heat emanating from the room was palpable and made him immediately wish he'd worn something lighter than his usual robes. He slowly wandered in and tried to push back against the vegetation only to find that some of it actively retaliated. He heard the cries of what sounded like birds and small animals but there was also something…else. It was a deep, almost primal and visceral growl that seemed to originate from where the teacher's office was located. The sweat on his brow was no longer just because of the heat. His heart was pounding, his pulse racing; where _was_ that Lovegood girl? He was hesitant to call out especially in light of the possibility of attracting the unwanted attention of whatever the heck made that growl.

Albus finally located Luna perched prettily on a high branch of what appeared to be a rainbow colored tree that had flowering vines draped from its higher branches and strange multi-limbed butterflies flittering about.

"Miss Lovegood? My dear, what have you done to this room?"

Luna peered down at her headmaster with a dreamy look on her face (though to Albus, that could just be her normal appearance), there was no fear of what might reside within this crazy jungle and there was not a speck of sweat anywhere on her face.

"Oh, hello headmaster. I see you've discovered the joys and delights of this environment I've created. I hope to use it to attract the Crumple-Horned Snorcack. It's quite realistic don't you think?"

Albus slowly nodded his head at her greeting, worried even more that this girl had lost her mind, "It is nice but frankly I'm curious as to how you created it? It's not every day that a jungle can be recreated outside the greenhouses. Could you come down from there? It doesn't appear to be very safe."

Luna merely gave him a mysterious smile. Albus shivered despite the heat, that smile did not bode well for his _own_ sanity. She vanished from the branch she was lounging on and suddenly popped up right next to him. He jumped back at the sudden appearance and immediately got entangled in some of the branches.

"Miss Lovegood! How did you get down so quickly?"

Luna cocked her head in contemplation as she gazed at him with her deceptively dreamy eyes, "Get down? From where? I've been on the ground the whole time."

Albus was growing even more concerned, "You mean you weren't just up in that…tree?" Said tree was nowhere in sight and now the terrain appeared to be open grassland. He whirled around and started breathing heavily in frustration.

'_What the heck is going on? I could've sworn we were in the jungle! Where did this savannah come from?'_

He glanced at the diminutive blonde who was looking up at him blinking owlishly in a seemingly oblivious manner with her hands behind her back, slowly twisting left and right without an apparent care in the world. He drew out a handkerchief and patted down his forehead. His need to find his senior staff suddenly became an overriding priority.

Albus spotted the door to exit and made a beeline for it as fast as his aged legs could take him. Once outside he turned to see if the girl had followed only to fall to the floor in shock… the classroom was _empty!_ Luna was sitting on a desk carefreely swinging her legs and smiling that mysterious smile at him. She gave him a happy wave before jumping off and closing the door.

* * *

After taking a breather and calling for an elf to bring him a stiff drink, he encountered something he'd thought would've never happened if Severus was available. Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and several other first years were in a room singing along to the music of a band, he'd never heard of before. The lyrics came fast and furious; it was electric and frankly very confusing. They kept asking, "So Whatcha, whatcha want?" over and over again with a couple of the other children mimicking the snappy beat of the music.

After everything else he'd seen that morning, this didn't even make him flinch. If only the rest of the day was as mundane…

* * *

_**Two hours later…**_

Albus was now considering retirement just to get away from this infernal nightmare. That eldritch nightmare, the feminine hygiene problem, the Lovegood fiasco, three major potions accidents, the usual chaos from Peeves, stopping two fights, and putting a stop to the efforts of a couple of Ravenclaws wanting to play the game of 'Elf Toss.' Not to mention the plain, old bizarre things that goes along with a thousand year old semi-sentient castle. He was in desperate need of a long hot soak in his bath and a comforting meal.

If he survived today, he was going to hide out at the Ministry. At least there things were consistent and easy to manage.

* * *

**At the bottom of the Grand Staircase**

After the day he'd had, his relief at the sight of his senior staff descending the Grand Staircase was one of joy and frustration. He was seriously considering either reprimanding them severely or giving all of them a massive pay raise. How _did_ they manage to control the student population without resorting to darker curses or disciplines? He thought back to the craziness that he'd had to endure and was contemplating a nice long vacation away from anyone resembling a student!

"Minerva, Severus, everyone else…" he paused as he took a shuddering breath in a vain hope of calming his nerves, "We had a progress meeting you were supposed to attend. Instead, I've had to spend the day searching for my senior staff and deal with our frankly exasperating behaviors of a cooped up student body."

The group looked at each other in puzzlement, _'What exasperating behaviors?'_

Minerva carefully approached her boss and took in his disheveled appearance. His hands were shaking, his beard and robes singed with burn marks and heaven knew what else. He was sporting a wild, terrified look in his eyes as if he'd seen things that defied explanation.

"Albus? Are you well?"

That was it took to let his frustration out, "NO! I'm NOT well! Do you know what I've had to go through just to find you?! I've had to deal with a rather rowdy and frankly bizarre student population doing unspeakable things to each other and to the castle! Did you know that Miss Lovegood created at least two whole immersive environments in an abandoned classroom? Also, does anyone know what the bloody heck a 'Shoggoth' is? Two third year Gryffindors managed to transfigure a rabbit into whatever that was, I'm still having nightmares! Then I had to deal with various first year girls who wanted to know about something called a 'tampon!' When I admitted that I had no idea as to what it was, they gave me a very detailed description as to its purpose! Gah!"

* * *

As Albus was continuing to rant about his misadventures, Hermione had to hide behind Harry lest the headmaster witness her giggling at his misfortune of learning about female anatomy. Harry was shaking his head in commiseration at witnessing the so-called 'Madness of Luna Lovegood' and made it a personal mission to find out just what she'd done to cause Albus' trip into the wilds, as it were. The other professors bemusedly glanced at each other as they listened to the headmaster's mutterings about the apparent depravities the student population was getting into. They'd never had a problem with them but it did show that Albus was severely out of touch when dealing with the general population outside of mealtimes.

* * *

Just then Umbridge appeared as Albus was continuing to mutter about the experiments in illegal human transfiguration. He groaned at the sight of the squat toad-like woman and pulled his wand out.

"Dammit! Not _another_ one! Minerva, make a note to remind your students that human transfiguration is not something that should be experimented with unless there's a trained professional to oversee things!" He started casting finite spells at Dolores to no avail; he cast more and harsher un-transfiguration spells at the increasingly distraught and foul tempered woman.

"Albus Dumbledore, stop this behavior at once! I am not an experiment gone wrong! How dare you insinuate that I am _anything _other than a pure-blooded witch!" Dolores screeched as she tried to defend herself against his onslaught.

Through her tears of mirth, Minerva finally decided to put both out of their respective misery and stunned both. The sound of silence resumed as their bodies hit the floor with a resounding 'thump.' She turned to the others and quirked her eyebrow up in silent question.

"What the heck was he raving about?"

Harry finally succumbed to his barely repressed laughter and slowly sank to his knees, Hermione joining him a moment later. He raised his hands in supplication, "That was our doing, professor. You see, we kind of knew that the headmaster would try to find us and stick his beak in where it didn't belong so we convinced the other students to go wild and find ways to keep him occupied and away from the seventh floor."

Filius burst out laughing at the audacity of the two fifth years while Severus merely shook his head and sneered at them. Pomona was leaning against the wall wheezing as she tried to breathe between laughs.

Professor Sinastra hiccupped from her laughter as she queried the two teens, "You, you mean all that craziness was just a, a prank? Whoa… that's epic."

Minerva sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she replayed the events in her mind, "What I'm curious about is how it was all organized? How did the students know where and when Albus would be in a particular location to be able to pull such a prank?"

Hermione grinned, "We subcontracted the organization and execution of this whole day to the Weasley Twins. In exchange for pulling off this masterful display of chaos, we're going to give them help on some of their more complicated pranks with some of our knowledge and experience with muggle manufacturing technology."

Minerva's eyes widened and her face paled at the thought of readily and easily accessible Weasley pranks.

* * *

_**The next day…**_

After getting the headmaster and High Inquisitor to the hospital wing for treatment, Harry and Hermione headed back up to the Gryffindor Common room to congratulate everyone on a successful prank. They sent word through the student grapevine expressing their gratitude and heartfelt thanks that everyone could set aside their differences for one day to make it memorable and assist in keeping Albus away from their expedition.

The two were relaxing in the Library; Harry was reading a text on runic combinations while Hermione was penning a letter to a friend of hers who had published several papers on advanced crystalline structure analysis for potential uses in the computer industry.

Harry peeked over her shoulder and tried to follow along with what she was writing though it was heavily laced with technical jargon.

"You think this friend of yours might have some insights on how to program a gemstone?"

She kind of shifted her face into a quasi-exasperated look and sighed, "Maybe? That's all I could hope for. Realistically, I think we're going to have to face the distinct possibility that the Diadem is just going to remain a shiny bauble to sit in a display case somewhere. His work on crystalline analysis is ground-breaking but will it be enough to put into actual use? I really don't know." She dropped her pen and scrubbed her face with her hands, quietly groaning.

Harry leant over and gave her a kiss on her cheek and smiled in commiseration with her plight, "I wish there was a way to bypass the whole thing but unfortunately I've not come up with any brainwave ideas."

She returned that with a knowing wave of her hand, "And therein lays the problem. I hope that Madam Pince manages to find Rowena's journals that outline what procedure she took back in her own days. I'm even tempted to write to the Unspeakables at the Department of Mysteries to see if they have any ideas."

Harry gazed at her with unseeing eyes as he thought about that, "Why don't you? We've already completed, in my mind at least, any sort of questions and possibilities as to what the Diadem could do. Let the professionals deal with the rest of it."

"And the corrupted drive?"

He shrugged then paused for a moment in thought. Then he quietly called out, "Dobby?"

There was a slight crack of displaced air as Dobby the elf appeared next to him, silently gazing up with slightly worshipping look on his wrinkled face, "Harry Potter, sir has called for Dobby?"

Holding up a finger at the elf, Harry turned to Hermione, "Where'd you put that corrupted drive?"

"It's in the bag with the Diadem."

Nodding, Harry extracted the gemstone from the bag and held it up for Dobby to see, "Dobby? I was wondering if this felt like anything that the Diary did? I seem to remember that you described it as an evil, oily feeling?" He handed it over to Dobby who immediately grimaced and nodded his head, his ears flapping madly.

"Yes, sir. This gem bees feeling like the bad book." He quickly put it down on the table and scrubbed his hands against his pillowcase tunic.

Harry then gestured at Hermione, "Well, there you go. I think I'll write the letter to the DoM and tell them that the gemstone feels like the Diary and let them deal with it." He turned back to the elf, "Thank you, Dobby. You may go back to what you were doing." Dobby smiled happily and practically swooned at being thanked by Harry and disappeared with a near silent crack.

Hermione chuckled at the display, "You ought to think about adopting him when you're old enough." Harry snorted and shook his head.

"I think they might be curious as to how you know what the Diary felt like when you've never actually touched the thing. You might want to mention Dobby's experience with it in that letter of yours."

He cocked his finger at her, "Good idea."

* * *

**At the Department of Mysteries**

Director Algernon Croaker, Head Researcher for the Department of Mysteries, leant back in his chair and contemplated what he'd finished reading in the letter from none other than Harry Potter. The tale of finding the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw and what it's apparent purpose was a revelation and a curiosity. He'd love to get his hands on it to study but idly thought that maybe if the boy could get it to work, it might entice him to join their ranks. Merlin knew the boy was talented; after all, the observational notes from his operatives about the boy's genius in runes and wards made for riveting reading.

He got up, grabbed his cloak and told his secretary that he'd be out for most of the day then heading for the public floos.

After exiting the floo at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, Croaker made his way up to the castle. It wasn't often that he got to take a pleasant walk and the weather certainly was favorable today. As he approached the castle gates, he spotted several youths chasing each other on brooms, several more just lounging on the grass chatting with each other and other pursuits of youth. He smiled at the display and sighed internally, _'Ah, to be young again where a weekly quiz was the most stressful thing a person had to worry about.'_

He stopped a young Slytherin and inquired about the location of Harry Potter then proceeded into the castle after getting directions. Unconcerned neither about any distractions nor about the possibility of interception by the headmaster, Croaker approached the painting of the 'Fat Lady' aka Margaret.

"Good day, madam. I seek Harry Potter and was informed that he was inside. Might you let me in?"

Margaret ruminated a bit as she took in the cloaked figure before her, "It goes against my better judgment but the castle wards are telling me that you are someone to be trusted." She unlatched the door her frame was attached to and swung open.

Croaker bowed his head in thanks and stepped through the doorway.

Harry was lounging on the couch, his head resting on Hermione's lap. Her fingers were doing wonderful things with his hair and scalp. There was a sudden hush of noise from the others in the room and he sat up to see what the problem was. Standing there in a gray hooded cloak, face hidden from view, was one of the legendary and very mysterious Unspeakables from the Department of Mysteries.

"Harry Potter?" the figure asked to the room at large.

Harry nervously held his hand up and gulped loudly. Hermione held his other hand in a death grip as she too let out a gasp of surprise.

"I am Director Croaker from the Department of Mysteries. I think it's time you and I had a little chat."

* * *

**[A/N2: So what do y'all think? Leave a review, if'n you please. Thanks.**


	5. Chapter 5

**[A/N: Sorry for the short chapter word counts. I can only write what comes to mind. As always, please read and review! Happy Valentine's Day!]**

* * *

_**In an empty classroom a few minutes later…**_

After entering the room, Croaker closed and sealed the door as well as erecting several wards and charms to throw off potential eavesdroppers. Noting the curious looks on the two Gryffindors faces, he explained the reason why he was there.

"Frankly put, my visit is the result of Mr. Potter's letter to my department asking if we'd ever found the journal s belonging to Rowena Ravenclaw. Unfortunately, to my knowledge and to a cursory examination of our own library, we do not have them."

Harry slumped defeatedly in his chair, he gestured with one hand and replied that it had been a shot in the dark and it _was _a small possibility that it was there.

"What about a vault in Gringott's?" Hermione asked, "Would she have had one at the time? Did Gringott's even exist then?"

Croaker shook his head, "No. The bank as you know it today didn't get started until the mid 1800s. Back then, most magicals had their valuables stored in their homes, usually a warded room beneath the manor or some such place known only to them."

Harry pondered that for a while before getting a spark of an idea. He sat up and called for Dobby. The excitable elf popped in and looked up adoringly at Harry.

"Harry Potter, sir has called for Dobby?"

"Yes, I did. Do you or the other elves know if the personal living space of Rowena Ravenclaw is still stocked with all of her personal belongings? Or was it removed after her death?"

Dobby looked pensive at this before snapping his fingers, "Dobby will be right back, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby needs to go check with the Head Elf." He then popped away with just a small crack of noise.

By this point, Croaker had dropped his hood and peered curiously at Harry. Harry merely grinned with a lop-sided smirk, rolled his eyes and shook his head a bit, "Dobby is the elf I'd freed from his slavery at the hands of the Malfoy's back in second year. I've tried to get him to stop or at least tone down the adoring responses but he seems determined to let everyone know how he feels."

Croaker chuckled quietly. Just then Dobby popped back into the room with a sad and tearful expression on his face, "Dobby is sorry, Harry Potter, sir but Head Elf Crafty is unable to remember if such things still exist. The room of Lady Birdy still there but none of her thingsies. Dobby will go punish himself."

Harry slid down from his seat to look Dobby in his eyes, "You will do no such thing, Dobby. I forbid you to punish yourself for this. You actually succeeded quite well in your task. I asked for an answer to a question I had and you fulfilled that task admirably. Now, I thank you for your help. You may go back to whatever it was you were doing before or take some time to rest as you see fit."

Dobby was practically crying before he gave Harry a strong hug and popping away.

Hermione was busy scribbling away at some notes of hers, "I think I need to add this to my list of topics to research later in life. 'The psychology of British House-elves.'"

Harry smiled at the underlying humor in his girlfriend's statement, "Working with Dobby will just give us practice for when we have our own kids someday." As he rose to sit again in his chair, he didn't notice the dreamy-eyed look on Hermione's face.

* * *

"So, to get back on topic, Mr. Potter and Miss Granger; Do you have the Diadem right now? May I see it?" Croaker said the last with a bit of curiosity in his voice.

Hermione pulled the Diadem out, along with the corrupted gemstone and all of their notes and slid them along the length of the table.

"Do you know anything about electronic computers and their systems, Director?"

He shook his head, "Never heard of them but I am a quick study. Give me the basics and we can build from there." So for the next fifteen minutes Hermione, with a couple of interjections from Harry, explained the history and basics of modern computing to Croaker. Croaker listened carefully and made a few notes and internally came to the conclusion that these two teens _definitely_ needed to be recruited to the DoM. Their understanding and ability to work with such modern concepts would make them valuable colleagues.

"So now that we've covered the backstory of computing, here's our problem. The main 'hard drive' gemstone of the Diadem is corrupted and unreadable. We've not been able to ascertain as to _why_ it is or _what_ would happen if we were to put the gem back into place and try to wear it but needless to say, that won't be happening anytime soon, " Harry commented as Croaker held the bad gem up to the light, "We were wondering if there was anyone that knew how to 'program' if you will a new gemstone to function like the old one or barring that, come up with a work around so that the Diadem could continue operation as it was intended."

Croaker pondered this as he placed the gem back into its protective bag, "Have you tried to connect it to your muggle hard drive?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah, that was one of our possible solutions but unfortunately the two systems are incompatible. From their perspective it would be like trying to describe the taste of an orange to someone eating an apple."

Croaker nodded slowly as he ran his hand through his hair and leaned back in his chair. They were quiet for a few moments, letting the older man try to come up with solutions without any distractions from the teens.

Leaning forwards slightly Croaker inquired, "Have you tried connecting it to a Pensieve?"

The two teens looked puzzled. "I have no idea what that is," Harry replied whilst glancing at Hermione who also shook her head negatively.

Bobbing his head briefly, Croaker explained that a Pensieve was an ancient bowl that held a substance that was neither liquid or gas and that with a special incantation allowed the user to review their, or someone else's, memories for further study."

"Are they difficult or expensive to obtain?" Hermione wondered.

"All known Pensieves are the property of the Department of Mysteries and only loaned out under special circumstances."

Harry's face dropped as he heard that but then perked up again, "Oh, I know what that is now! Dumbledore has one in his office. Maybe he would let you borrow it to test your theory?"

A grey tinged eyebrow rose on Croaker's face, "He has a Pensieve? I don't recall his name on the sign-out list. Most curious…"

The three had to break up their meeting soon as Harry and Hermione had to get to class early the next morning and Croaker wanted to examine the Pensieve in Dumbledore's office so they agreed to meet again in a week.

* * *

_**One week later and now in the Runes laboratory…**_

Dumbledore and Croaker had had a short yet loud meeting that resulted in the confiscation of the Pensieve and a strong warning to Albus to keep his sticky fingers out of other people's belongings if he didn't want to face jail time. Harry and Hermione suffered through another ineffectual DADA class with Dolores Umbridge who seemed to make it her personal mission to try and incite Harry into making some comment that a 'supposed' Dark Lord was on the move again just so she could inflict a rather nasty detention on the boy. Harry never rose to take the bait but merely returned with a mysterious half-grin that boded nothing good if he were pressed.

Surprisingly, Umbridge backed off…

* * *

Now, in the laboratory and faced with Hermione's diagnostic equipment, Croaker presented the Pensieve and explained the runes along the sides of the bowl. Both she and Harry were fascinated by the design and operation of the device. Harry in particular noticed something familiar with the arrays.

"I might be mistaken but these arrays look almost like crude versions of the Diadem. Director? Which is older, the bowl or the Diadem?"

"As near as our records can attest to, the bowl is older by several thousand years. I wouldn't doubt that Rowena took some of the arrays for her own work and used it later in the Diadem."

Harry looked back between the two historical objects and whistled with appreciation whilst nodding slowly, "Amazing. I wish History of Magic was this interesting. No one else has the ability to make history boring like Professor Binns."

Croaker laughed, "Is that ghost still here? Wow, he was here and teaching the same boring Goblin Wars junk when I was a firstie!"

Hermione grumped, "Maybe when you have the chance, send someone to exorcise Binns out so we can get a decent professor." Croaker patted her on the shoulder and promised to look into it.

In the meantime, Harry was examining the bowl and noticed two indentations that looked remarkably like to ports to connect external devices into, "Hermione? Does this look like those ports on the back of your computer?"

She leaned in and peered at the shallow holes in the bowl. She scrunched her face up a bit and pursed her lips before cocking her head to one side, "Maybe? Hang on…" She dug around in her toolkit and removed a magnifier loupe, "Huh, it does appear to be like that even though there doesn't seem to be any connectors attached like there'd be on my laptop." She stood up and started pacing. Harry held his hand up for quiet when Croaker went to go say something.

She stopped after a few moments and turned to face Croaker, "You said that the Pensieve allows a person to review their memories, right?" He nodded in confirmation, "So let's take a memory of the internal construction of a modern hard drive and see if we can connect the Diadem to the bowl."

Harry raised his hand in question, "How would you know where the proper connections should go to?"

Hermione threw up her hands in mild frustration, "This is all conjecture; I have no clue really as to how this is _supposed_ to work! I can only make guesses based on modern equivalents. But there's really no other option other than to consign the Diadem to being just a shiny bauble in a display case somewhere."

"Easy now, Miss Granger. This is exactly the sort of things we discuss when faced with a new and unresolved question in my department. For starters, let's try and copy your memory of a properly working modern drive, stick it in the bowl then use those clipped leads to attach the two together. For all we know, there might be a specific sequence to get them to work right."

Harry cocked his head in thought, "I could rig up a circuit on my breadboard to act as a sort of intermediary. If the connection is good, it'll light up green; if not, then it stays dark. We could then section it off to the number of connectors on the Diadem."

"What about the two ports on the bowl?"

Harry scrummaged his lips a bit and cracked his knuckles, "My guess is that it acts as a sort of 'universal connector' between whatever memory is in the bowl and the external destination. "

* * *

It took Harry, with the help of Croaker, an hour or so to set up a runic intermediary and test it out using other samples in the room. While they were doing that, Hermione was busy figuring out which cable harnesses she had on hand that would work or at the very least hold up to the potential strain without shorting out or outright melting.

During a short break before the big test, the three of them were sitting at an empty table and snacking on some nibblies that Dobby had brought. Croaker watched the two teens as they held a quiet yet intense jargon-laced conversation.

"Have you considered what you wanted to do when you graduate Hogwarts?" He interjected when they paused.

Both of them sighed a bit in their own way; Hermione was a grumbling sort of sigh, whereas Harry's was more a grunt. Croaker chuckled at that, "I take it things aren't shaping up the way you hoped?"

Harry shook his head silently while Hermione glared at the door, "No it hasn't; especially with that pink toad wandering the halls and making snide comments about the inherent bigotry in the Ministry."

Harry explained that in an early interview with Professor McGonagall about career choices and with Umbridge sitting in making rude comments the entire time, they had both found out that it would be difficult for him to get a high-paying position anywhere or doing anything worthwhile in the Ministry while Hermione would be better off marrying into a wealthy family and becoming the broodmare for future generations.

"Granted Professor McGonagall never actually came out and said that directly about Hermione's chances but that was the sentiment. To be honest, neither one of us considered the Department of Mysteries as a viable option simply because there was never any brochures or information as to your hiring practices."

Croaker was puzzled at that, "That's…not right. I know we send out new pamphlets every year here to the school."

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "Something for you to look into then. Now that I know that this and my other abilities are something you recruit for, I'd be happy to apply when the time came. Would you send us a listing of what sort of NEWT requirements you have?"

The Director shrugged, "It's not all that difficult to figure out what we're looking for. As long as you get at least an Exceeds Expectations across the board for whichever classes you take and can pass a series of personality and psychological examinations, we'd be happy to hire you. Now in your two cases because you already have a specialty, you'd be bumped up to a higher consideration ahead of your average applicant."

Hermione made a curious noise, "Huh, I would've thought you'd want graduates with Outstanding on their NEWTS."

"We've found that those with consistently higher marks tend to burn out faster and they don't really research as well than those with Exceeds."

* * *

Once they finished cleaning up from their break, the three researchers got assembled in front of the Pensieve, the Diadem and the test equipment Harry and Hermione had purposively built. They were silent as her laptop went through its power-up sequence. The Diadem was ready to be 'booted up' and the Pensieve had already been loaded with Hermione's memory of a hard drive schematic she'd had found in her stash of files.

Harry finished plugging in the intermediary harness to the Pensieve and glanced nervously at the other two before 'flicking the switch…'

Nothing happened, the Diadem and the rune board remained dark.

With a dejected grumble of disappointment, Hermione covered her eyes with her hand and made quiet prevarications of the parentage of the technological gods. Harry and Croaker took another look at the rune circuit on his breadboard; Harry made a squeak of sorts when he discovered that one of the rune plug-ins wasn't quite seated properly. He pulled it out, examined it then pushed it home.

The Diadem lit up spectacularly and sections that had been dark previously, lit up as they too went through their systems check!

Croaker yelped with happiness while Hermione started happy dancing while apologizing for doubting the tech gods.

Grinning stupidly at the sight of a thousand year old computer 'spinning up' and making all the same reactions that Hermione's laptop did, Harry sat there with starry-eyed wonder at the sheer genius that was everything and everyone.

Then he looked at the other two, "Now what?"

* * *

**Just before the Christmas holidays**

Harry and Hermione ran through every check they could devise without actually putting on the Diadem. They all agreed to hold off on that final test until after the start of the new term because they had mid-terms to study for and the subsequent tests. Croaker had to return to his job but made both teens promise to wait until he, and perhaps a couple of colleagues, would rejoin them to witness the Diadem in action once again.

Hermione had written home and received permission from her parents to invite Harry along to spend the holidays with her at their home in Crawley. Harry appreciated this as his own relationship with his maternal aunt and uncle wasn't always the best. They provided a roof over his head and food on the table but that was about it. There was no love from either side and frankly, Harry was counting the days until he could get a decently paying job so he could move out as soon as possible.

* * *

They were on the train heading south and Hermione was busy reading an article in the latest Transfiguration Today journal. Harry was busy sketching out an array that he hoped would act like a mental buffer and protect the user from harmful intrusions of his mind. His sketching stalled when Hermione made a throwaway comment about how neat it would be if he could come up with something that would allow him to intern at the DoM but would remove his memory of anything sensitive if it were taken off after quitting or deciding against employment with the Unspeakables.

He pondered that for a moment before making a note in his flipbook of ideas for future projects.

The Honeydukes Express came by a few moments later, Harry bought a couple of ham sandwiches from the elderly woman running it. They sat quietly eating their sandwiches and using the time to cuddle up. Some of their friends wandered by later to wish both a happy Christmas and new year but none actually stayed. Ron Weasley did pass by and sneer at the happy couple but they ignored the twit.

While they were people watching, Harry remarked that he was glad that Ginny Weasley had finally figured out and accepted that he was not interested in any sort of relationship with her. It had been touch and go in the beginning and it took a strongly worded letter to her parents informing them of their daughter's behavior and how she was pushing the limits as to what potentially could be embarrassing for their two families if it ever became public. The resulting Howler that Molly Weasley sent to her daughter passed into Hogwarts history.

* * *

Hermione hummed under her breath as she too remembered those early days. She then spotted Luna Lovegood practically floating down the corridor. Leaning over and tapping the window, she gestured for the blonde Ravenclaw to join them.

"Hello Harry and Hermione Potter," the dreamy-eyed fourth year greeted them.

Harry snorted while Hermione blushed beet red, "Luna, we're not that ready to make it official though I don't doubt that it's seriously a possibility before we graduate."

Luna just smiled softly, happy that her friends had found love and that they never made fun of her views or beliefs.

"Looking forward to seeing your father again, Luna?" Hermione asked bringing Luna back from her introspection.

"Yes, I am. I hoping he has news about his latest search for the Crumple-horned Snorcacks." Harry smiled pleasantly at the look on the younger girl's face.

"So how's your year been going, Luna?" he asked.

Luna shrugged, "My housemates are occasionally revisited by Wrackspurts but by and large, they're leaving me alone. I'm fortunate that the Nargles haven't returned after you had a talk with them." Hermione frowned at that; the poor girl had been bullied something vicious during her first year by the close-minded members of the so-called 'House of the Intelligent.' It had taken multiple visits by the two of them plus a verbal lashing from Professor Flitwick before the instigators finally got it through their thick skulls that bullying of anyone was wrong and potentially embarrassing or expensive if they persisted. It only took one punishment of Cho Chang courtesy of the Weasley Twins to get the others to change their minds about their torment of Luna Lovegood.

"How is your project coming along, Harry? Made any promise with the Diadem?" Luna asked, breaking the silence in the compartment.

"Yeah, it was tough and we called in some professional help from the DoM but Hermione and I finally got the Diadem to work," Harry explained without realizing he'd brought up the secret topic.

Luna nodded solemnly, "If you need any more help, I'm sure that Rowena's journals we have at home could be of use to you."

"…"

Silence pervaded as both Harry and Hermione stared uncomprehendingly at the diminutive blonde who was twirling the end of her hair with a finger whilst gazing unconcernedly out the window.

"You…what…_huh?"_ Harry could only stammer.

"Luna? How did you know and _what_ do you know about the Diadem?" Hermione whispered.

Luna turned her luminous grey eyes to the both of them, "Besides the fact that I'm a member of that House? The elves told me about your project and how you've been striving towards fixing it."

Hermione's face grew puzzled, "Why would the elves tell you anything about it?"

Luna tilted her head to one side, staring disconcertingly direct at the two shocked older teens and another sly, dreamy smile grew on her face, "Because they tell me everything that I need to know about the operation and safety of the school. It's their job to report all and everything to the Heiress of Clan Ravenclaw."


	6. Chapter 6

**[A/N: Another chapter so soon I hear you ask? Well, when the inspiration strikes I got to get it out there so I can not have it bouncing around in my head at all hours of the night. As always, please be kind and leave a review. They're like potato chips, you can't get enough after just one.]**

* * *

**Still on the train heading south towards King's Cross**

It took several long minutes before Hermione's brain was able to reboot after that sudden information dump about the true identity of Luna Lovegood. Harry wasn't much better, his jaw still hanging open and she could see the gears in his head slowly grinding away.

Luna merely smiled in that knowing way she had whenever she made some sort of insight that made sense after a moment of introspection.

"So, so all those times you were being bullied?" Hermione stammered as she tried to gather her wits back, "You weren't in any real danger?"

"Oh not from the lost items, no. I knew that the elves would have my stuff back by the end of the day if I asked for them. The only real danger I was in would've been if my housemates became physical. I was also waiting to see if there were anyone in the school who'd show the slightest amount of courage and moral sense of right and wrong to stand up to those bullies and make them stop. I was fortunate that it was you two. I gained two friendships that day, so it worked out as well don't you think?"

"How did the Lovegood family evolve from the Ravenclaw family?" Harry asked as he finally came back to life.

Luna shrugged, "Rowena had more children than just Helena. Even back then, having a squib child was looked down upon. My ancestor was just fortunate that Rowena didn't care for the beliefs that a squib was something to be blithely dismissed or worse. She trained her son to be able to function to a reasonable level. Reasonable for the era, I guess. He became a farmer with the side job of chronicler."

At their puzzled looks, Luna explained that as a chronicler, her ancestor took the information that people gave him; who married whom and when, the children produced and so forth. He would then create a tapestry to show those results. Since very few people outside of the landed gentry could actually read or write, those tapestries were painted on various fabrics or parchment depending on the budget approved on.

Harry's face scrunched up in thought, "So when did your family regain its magical ability?"

Luna snorted, "The squib's first child, a daughter, was magical. The child was magical enough to be invited to study at Hogwarts. Rowena found out about the child and her parentage then made the decision to bring them back into the Ravenclaw family, though just as a cadet line. After Helena passed without an heir, the magical inheritance laws involved switched to us."

Both Harry and Hermione could only goggle at each other and at Luna at that surprise revelation. Harry cleared his throat, "Did your ancestor ever do a tapestry for the other Founders? I'd be curious to know who the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin lines ended up with."

Luna tilted her head in thought, "I'm not exactly sure if there was a copy made but it's a simple enough check if you don't mind losing a couple of drops of blood." Hermione's eyebrows rose at that. Luna giggled at her expression, "I don't mean I'd be taking the blood. No, I meant going to the Goblins and having them run an Inheritance Bloodline exam. I don't remember how much it costs but it might be worth it."

Both older teens made mental promises to stop off at the bank. Turning back to the original topic, Hermione asked Luna if she'd ever read the journal regarding the Diadem and if she remembered any passages on how to program the gemstones. Luna tapped her lower lip as she tried to remember but shook her head negatively.

"I'm sorry, Hermione but I don't remember that sort of thing specifically," she shrugged again and gestured in defeat with her hands, "You'll just have to come over sometime during the break to look for yourself."

The three of them made their plans to get together. By then the train was beginning to slow as it approached the London station.

* * *

**Dursley Residence, Little Whinging, Surrey**

The moment Harry stepped over the threshold of the front door, he opened his arms in a wide gesture and exclaimed loudly, "Hello electrical lighting! Hello central air and heating! Oh, how I've missed you modern conveniences!"

Snorts of laughter burst out from his cousin Dudley and a strange expression of mirth on his aunt's face. Vernon was in the kitchen and leaned back to peer oddly at his nephew.

"What's gotten into you, boy?"

Harry just stood a little bit straighter and put on a haughty air, "I've spent the past three months in an environment that stifles the creative spirit. Yes, magic is wonderful but try to do meticulous research into tiny parts to build a wondrous machine or something using only candlelight? It's tough on the eyes and my back. Here at least, I have the ability to do research into micro-manufacturing without having to explain what that is. Here I can communicate with someone around the other side of the planet near instantaneously as opposed to having to wait weeks or even months for a response by owl."

Vernon shook his head and disappeared back into the kitchen as Dudley leaned casually against the wall and lazily pointed back at Harry, "Then why do you continue with all that magic stuff if it's so ancient and a pain."

Harry shrugged, "I have to. At least up until I get the results from my OWLs."

"And those are?"

"They're the equivalent to a high school exit exam. If I want to get into the magical equivalent of college, I need to get high marks in the subjects I took. So far the only ones I'm really worried about are my DADA and History classes." By this point, he, Vernon and Dudley had sat down in the living room, the armchair and couch respectively while Harry paced the room. Petunia was busy in the kitchen getting dinner ready, though she could still hear the conversation.

"What's wrong with those two?" Petunia called from the kitchen.

"Well, the history class is taught by a ghost and he drones on in a monotone voice. He's got the amazing ability of making wars and discoveries seems as interesting as ordering new paper from the supply depot. The Defense Against the Dark Arts class is being taught by a Ministry toad and completely ineffectual teacher who doesn't want us to be able to pass the practical part of our class. She focuses only on the theory side of defense. It's rumored that the Minister for Magic is worried that the headmaster is forming an army to overthrow his administration. Complete nutter in my opinion. "

Vernon grimaced, "So this minister is a coward and corrupt, eh? Not surprising that he'd be trying to keep the future generation from plotting to overthrow him. First rule in a dictatorship, suppress new and forward thinking to keep them sheep-like."

Harry gestured in agreement with a sweep of his hand and nodded, "Right? So a few of us have been practicing in secret. There's a room we use that is warded to alert us whenever the toad is near and we revert to our cover practice."

"What would that be?"

Harry blushed, "Well, we're learning how to dance and behave in various social settings. We're fortunate that we have a couple of students who come from those upper crust families and they know all those etiquette rules and whatnot."

Both Vernon and Dudley laughed at Harry's chagrin while Petunia was heard cooing from the kitchen.

* * *

_**Later that same day…**_

Vernon turned his attention to the television and Dudley went up to his room to play on his computer. Harry wandered into the kitchen to assist his aunt with preparing dinner. The two worked seamlessly and silently with many years of practice. It took a few moments but Harry finally caught on that Petunia had something to say.

"Aunt Petunia? What's wrong?"

Huffing a bit at being caught woolgathering, Petunia leant up against the edge of the counter and looked at her nephew, "I was just remembering conversations I used to have with your mother whenever she came home from that school. She'd had similar complaints about various things, teachers and antiquated subjects for example. I guess things really don't change all that much up there, do they?"

Harry shook his head at that, "No they don't. Most of the pureblood families actually resist change. Their philosophy of 'If it was good enough for my ancestor then it's good enough for me' is what's holding back some major developments."

Petunia looked surprised and rather curious, "Anything you could share?"

Harry thought for a moment before gesturing for her to wait a moment. He dashed off upstairs and was heard thumping around a bit before returning to the kitchen holding what appeared to be a deck of cards and a long board with a bunch of tiny holes arranged in a grid format.

"These are runic function cards. Each one does a specific action like for example," he extracted one and laid it on the counter, "absorbs local ambient magical energy and converts it to normal electricity."

Petunia pointed a finger at the card, "So with, with this you'd be able to power a lamp or something?" Harry smugly smirked.

"Yup. I've powered various muggle devices like lamps or radios. I've even gotten Hermione's laptop and diagnostic gear to run in Hogwarts."

"That's a big deal, isn't it?"

"Huge! With it and a null-space card, any muggleborn or raised can now bring in the things that they've always had been denied before. Electronic games and toys, lighting, heating and cooling, the sky is the limit. Best part is; the rune array for both can be scaled down to fit within the desired toy, game or lamp. I figure that the heating and cooling unit could just have it stamped on it during construction. Anyone who didn't know what it was would just assume that it was a maker's mark or something."

"Aren't you worried about breaking the law?"

Harry dismissed that with a lazy wave of his hand, "As long as the original space for batteries or a power cord remains, no one would even begin to guess as to the purpose of the array."

Gesturing to the board, Harry explained that this was his 'breadboard' version of the cards. It was what he used to develop the proper location and connections without having to resort to using reams of parchment or paper and gallons of ink. He showed her each of the different plug-ins and how they functioned. Petunia was attentive and impressed at her nephew's enthusiasm.

* * *

**Gringott's Bank, Diagon Alley, London**

Harry had mentioned to his aunt that he needed to head into London to do a bit of work with the magical bank. When asked how he was going to get there, he casually mentioned that he'd just take the bus. Armed with his wand and a day bag containing his notes, he set out just after breakfast . The ride on the Knight Bus was its usual harrowing experience but fortunately, it was quick and there weren't anyone else ahead of him in the queue line.

Harry pulled out a nondescript cap and settled it on his head over his famous scar and hoped to high heaven that no one would recognize him as he entered the Leaky Cauldron's muggle entrance. He quickly and quietly headed through the pub and out the back door into the rear courtyard where the barrier was. He tapped the right sequence on the appropriate bricks then stepped back to watch them move out of the way.

The alley was busy but not overly so Harry was able to slip through the clusters of shoppers and walked up to the steps to the Goblin's domain. As he got near the guards, he stopped and bent down to supposedly retie his shoes. The Goblin guard started to sneer but abruptly stopped as he distinctly heard Harry mention under his breath at the idea of casting water balloons into the crowd just to sow chaos and watch them scurry like panicked ants. Harry stood up and casually winked at the guard and wished him a good day before sauntering inside.

* * *

Harry waited for an open teller and when barked at to approach, he bowed graciously to the disgruntled Goblin, "Good business to you, Teller. May your vaults ever be full and your enemies develop an embarrassing bout of flatulence in front of their clan leader."

The Goblin stared at him for a moment before bursting out into loud laughter, "That's a good one, wizard! I'm going to need to remember that. Now, what can Gringott's do for you?"

"Well, as I understand it the Potter Family has had an account here for years and yet I've never been informed of it until just recently." That much was true. He'd had a mirror conversation with Sirius about today's visit and the Marauder had suggested he speak with the family account manager.

"Do you have your key?" Harry promptly handed it over. The teller looked it over and nodded to himself before making a notation and sending it off through a slot in his desk. Harry retook the key and was directed to make himself comfortable in the waiting area. It didn't take long before a runner came and fetched him.

* * *

Harry's time with the family account manager was at first spent trying to placate the old Goblin that the boy's lack of appearance was not of malicious intent but rather the failure of the adults in his life not telling him what he needed to know.

"I frankly place the bulk of the blame at Albus Dumbledore's feet. He's the one who's repeatedly claimed to be my magical guardian all these years. It was his job to educate me in everything I needed to know before my reentry to the magical world," Harry grumped.

The Goblin regarded him somberly for a moment before finally relenting. He slid over the family account ledgers and described the activity of the vaults for the past fifteen years, specifically pointing out the suspicious withdrawals that happened before Harry had even received his first letter from the school. Naturally, Harry was extraordinarily pissed off that someone, in all likelihood Dumbledore, would be stealing from him.

"Okay, I know this would be just more work for you but I want you to seal all the Potter Vaults and do a complete and total audit of all past transactions from 1981 until now. I can provide receipts to prove what I've bought over the past four and a half years so you can identify me fairly easily. Take whatever it costs to run said audit plus an additional 1% for your own troubles. If you find any discrepancies or clear evidence of outright theft, I want you to retrieve it with extreme prejudice." The evil grin on the Goblin's face grew to epic proportions at Harry's declaration.

Harry smirked back, "In the meantime, I'd like to run an Inheritance Bloodline test. I have a friend, Luna Lovegood, who informed me that she's the Heiress of Clan Ravenclaw and mentioned that there is the possibility that the other three Founders might have living descendants."

* * *

**Back at the Dursley residence**

Harry entered the house in a daze and silently slumped onto the couch, barely aware that the others were looking at him concernedly. Dudley finally reached over and pinched Harry on the arm.

"Ouch! What the hell, Dudley?" Harry exclaimed as he rubbed his injured arm.

Dudley smirked, "You weren't responding. What happened at the bank?"

Harry grumbled again at his cousin and glared briefly at the unconcerned boy before telling them what he'd learned.

"It turns out that the Potter family is an ancient one and frankly very rich. I say rich but not in coin but in property, history and goods. I also learned that my supposed magical guardian, Albus Dumbledore, has been playing fast and loose with my account. He's been withdrawing money for various personal reasons. I've had my account manager lock everything down and run a full audit with the promise of financial retribution against the old goat. I can't even imagine the sort of things all that money could've influenced along with my name tacked on. I've also discovered that the old man has been using a proxy to vote on various legislation to push through bills and stuff to move the magical world in directions I'd have never approved of if I'd known."

The Dursleys were shocked to learn that their nephew/cousin was loaded but more importantly the man they thought was the 'Leader of the Light' as they'd heard Dumbledore described as, could be so cruel to steal from a child. Vernon made some comment about one man having too much power for too long would inevitably corrupt his thinking.

Petunia cleared her throat, "So what about that other thing you wanted to do while at the bank? That inheritance thing?"

Harry harrumphed at that too, "Yeah, I found out who I'm related to. I'm related in some ways to the original Founders. Not directly unfortunately, cousins more likely; but it seems that the Potter family, in whatever form or name used over the centuries is related to just about every other magical family in the British collective."

Dudley was puzzled, "Just how old _is_ your family?"

Harry slowly shook his head in amazement, "According to the results of the test, the Potters were one of the first families to set foot on what would become the island of Britain nearly thirty thousand years ago. Now granted, they didn't keep actual records of the who's who until the widespread use of writing but according to the magic used by the Goblins, the ancient Potters settled in what is now Wales and grew from there because of the ability to make clay pots ready for firing by magically drying them faster than what would be possible otherwise."

"Wow! That's…old," Dudley finished lamely.

"Right?" Harry chuckled at his cousin's discomfort. Next he turned to his uncle, "Uncle Vernon, you'd complained in the past about how much I've cost you in terms of food and whatnot. Well, I or perhaps Dumbledore, should be able to pay you back with interest."

Vernon mumbled a bit before straightening up, "Keep the money, Harry. While I may have complained about it in the past, I've since come to at the very least accept you as part of this family. The time we've spent apart while you've been at that school has made me realize that much. We may not love you as one of our own but…" he trailed off uncomfortable with the way the conversation was turning.

* * *

**Lovegood Residence, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon**

Harry met up with Hermione at her place in Crawley using public transportation. From there, the two used the Knight Bus to head over to Luna's home known as 'The Rookery.' When they stepped off the steps of the bus, they found Luna waiting serenely for them.

"Good morning, Luna. Have you been having a good Yule break?" Hermione greeted the younger girl.

Luna smiled happily, "Oh, yes. Daddy and I have been having a delightful time getting caught up since September." She turned and led the other two up the path towards her oddly shaped home. The inside was just as interesting if not more odd as nearly every surface had some sort of painting or sketch of strange plants and animals.

Looking around, Hermione commented, "You know what this artwork reminds me of?" Harry paused in his examination of something resembling a caterpillar but with fins instead of feet and glanced back her, "The Voynich Manuscript; it's a book of strange, indecipherable writings and unusual depictions of various animals, people and plants."

Harry grunted in response, "I wouldn't put it past this family. My Goblin account manager had some interesting tales to tell when I mentioned her name for that suggestion to take the Bloodline Inheritance test."

"Oh, yeah? How'd that go?"

Harry waved that off, "I'll tell you about it later. Luna? I think we're ready to see those journals now."

* * *

Luna reentered the room carrying several ancient yet well-cared for journals written in a lady's script. Each one was unfortunately written in the ancient language known as 'West Saxon' Old English. Neither Harry nor Hermione could make heads or tails of where to begin let alone how to translate it. Luna smirked at their puzzlement before casually remarking that she had the family spell that would translate it into modern English much to the other's relief. Luna placed the journal down on the table and waved her wand over the top. The journal glowed a sort of pinkish color and the lettering morphed itself into recognizable script.

_Excerpt from the Journal of Rowena Ravenclaw: April 1066_

"_After many months of labor, I have finally completed the etchings on the Diadem. It looks as if my dreams did match up to what I hold in my hands. There is only one test left to do and that is to place it on my head and see if it dredges up forgotten memories and replays them as if new. The most difficult part about this endeavor was the etching of the gemstones to function like that drive mechanism I Dreamed of. I was fortunate that Salazaar knew who to contact for the Alchemy part. I may understand the theory but the actual practice was beyond my skills."_

"Wow! The translation spell works wonderfully and that part about Salazaar. I'd always thought he'd be unwilling to help others. I wonder who his contact was?" exclaimed Harry before gesturing to Hermione to keep reading.

"_I have included a sketch of the… 'sir, kit, tree' used to format the drive gem. Hopefully I'll never need it again but it might be useful for future generations of inventors. The alchemical part shall remain with Salazaar's contact. (I can't believe how old the man and his wife truly are! The things they must've seen and learned!) I'm also eternally grateful to Godric for loaning me the use of his family's Pensieve to share my Dream with the others. I fear they might've thought me mad in the early days."_

"Harry? I think she's referring to the Flamels. That part of the incredibly ancient couple and their knowledge of alchemy? It's got to be them!" Hermione excitedly squealed before diving back into the story. The rest of the tale described the general procedures used to identify a proper gem and how to prepare the gem for the alchemical treatment. On the next page was a neatly drawn sketch of the hard drive circuitry in all its glory. There were different colors used to denote their specific destination and function and even some notes on ideas for future improvements.

* * *

Hermione sat heavily on the couch and sighed. They were _so close _to getting what they needed in order to fix the Diadem once and for all! Harry sat down next to her and ran his fingers through his hair. Luna was already sitting there dreamily staring off into space.

After a moment's pause, Hermione made a declaration, "Okay, next step is to find out if the Flamels are of a mind to help out and how to contact them. Luna? Given the amazing things you've shared with us today, would you or your father know how to contact the Flamels?"

Luna sadly shook her head, "I'm sorry, Hermione. We've never had any sort of acquaintance with the Flamels in our family history."

Hermione waved that off, "It was a long shot anyway, don't worry about it Luna. Okay, I think Hedwig might be able to help. She's a smart bird, if she can't figure it out maybe contact the Goblins?" Harry shrugged in compliance.

"Whatever works, I guess. I'm out of suggestions on that topic. Maybe you could also inquire why all the books that talk about him mention that his age is reportedly in the mid 600s? Rowena's journals make it sound like he and his wife are far older than that."

So with new determination, Hermione pulled out some parchment and a quill to compose a letter to the mysterious man known as Nicholas Flamel.


	7. Chapter 7

**[A/N: More technical explanations below. I'm not sure if I got any of it right as I was reading off the internet and typing on the fly. If it made any sense, congratulations! If not, leave a comment or suggestion in a review. ]**

* * *

**Hogwarts Express heading North after the holidays**

After an enjoyable and enlightening Yule holidays where Harry and Hermione learned more about the history of the Lovegood family than anyone else could've ever realized. Harry had also discovered a lot of interesting things about his own family history. His account manager also informed him of the sticky fingers belonging to a certain headmaster. After that revelation and in need of some warmth that could only come from a loving family, not that the Dursleys would ever be counted on for that; Hermione invited Harry over to her home.

After being introduced to her parents, Hermione showed off her bedroom and its myriad of geeky devices and other tech curiosities. It amazed Harry just how _extraordinary_ Hermione could be outside of a school setting such like at Hogwarts. He guessed that he really shouldn't be surprised given how much assistance she'd given him since the discovery and purpose of the Diadem. There were various awards and models; some working, some static, lining her shelves. The working model of a solar system orrery amazed him in its intricate details and complex gearing.

Pointing at the item Harry asked, "Hermione? Why don't you bring this in and show it off to our astronomy class?"

Hermione cocked her head in thought, "Good question; I guess I forgot about it until you pointed it out." She headed to her closet to see if she could find a box to store it in.

* * *

Now safely situated in a compartment on the train heading back to the school, Harry once again found Hermione nose deep involved with something…geeky.

She was reading a trade journal that looked like it had something to do with computers whilst simultaneously scribbling notes in a notebook at her side.

"Good reading there, Hermione?"

Hermione mumbled something unintelligible causing Harry to snicker quietly. _'Some things never change.'_

Just then the door to their compartment opened and Luna quietly entered. She crossed over Hermione's stretched out legs and plopped down next to Harry. Luna cocked her head in puzzlement as she took in the name of Hermione's magazine and some of the cover descriptions then turned to glance in silent question at Harry. He merely smiled and shook his head.

"Don't bother, Luna. It has something to do with that computer programming stuff that she's involved with. I tried to read along earlier but it's a weird sort of language and rules that just confuse the heck out of me. If she understands it and likes it, who am I to criticize?"

A snorting grunt was heard from Hermione's side of the compartment, "Now you know how I feel whenever you start going off about those runes of yours or those creatures of yours, Luna." She peered over the top of her magazine with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Could you try to explain it, then Miss Geek of the Universe?" Harry playfully snarked back.

Hermione sighed and laid her magazine down on the couch next to her. She showed them the contents of her notebook, "As in with runes, arithmancy or pretty much any language; you have a series of rules and parameters that govern how things interact with each other. What this coding language does is tell the computer how to operate a set of instructions that I enter in on the keyboard." She took a blank sheet of paper and scribbled in a couple of lines of code:

Public class AddTwoIntegers

Public static void main(String[] args) {

int first = 10;

int second = 20;

int sum = first + second;

.printIn("The sum is: " + sum); }

"Okay, now keep in mind that this coding language just came out this year so I'm still learning it myself but it seems to be fairly straightforward. This is a code that allows you to enter in two numbers and get the sum for the total."

Harry stared at the lines of the very simple code and slowly nodded in understanding. Luna was just staring.

"Okay…so after running the program the answer the computer would give is 30, right?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, that's it. Now with any computer coding, it gets infinitely more difficult the more in-depth you go. I'd imagine the same thing or similar is true with runes?"

Harry nodded as he chewed on his lower lip, "Yeah, Professor Babbling will start the new students with very basic arrays like a power rune and the symbol for light before starting to introduce more complex setups like my runic cards."

Hermione gestured in agreement with a wave of her hand. Luna sadly mentioned that there were no apt analogies for magical creatures but it was waved off.

"Can you use any of this…coding for the problem with the Diadem, Hermione?" Luna asked in her usual dreamy state.

Sighing, she replied, "Eh, I hope so. I'm still waiting for Hedwig to bring back a response from the Flamels. Assuming they're the ones that Rowena described in her journals, I'm hoping that whatever help they could give will allow me to fix the problem. It still bugs me that I can't find a modern workaround to the problem. I mean, I know what's involved with a factory reset to an old drive so it shouldn't be that much of a hassle to integrate modern with ancient. If it's what I think it is, it's just a matter of reinitializing a low-level format. My biggest hang-up is if there were any esoteric instructions in the original code."

"It's a shame that you can't examine the structure of the original drive format under a sort of microscope so you could just clone it," Harry remarked to which Hermione agreed with rather vehemently. It was and always would be a source of contention with her.

Luna had a question, "Could you not make a complete copy of the corrupted gem then peel away the bad layers one at a time?"

Hermione shook her head, "Without knowing what the original formatting looked like, I might accidentally remove something that should be there in the first place."

"Hang on, we know or at least suspect what the Diadem is supposed to do from the journals. Do you really need the original encodings? Why not at least try using a modern drive to test out the theory that the Diadem recovers the memories from the user? How hard would that be?"

Hermione could only gesture in surrender and shrug.

* * *

Following the return of the students to the castle, life progressed as it did for nearly a millennium. Classes resumed, homework was assigned, relationships were born or died and detentions were assigned and/or completed. For Harry, it meant that Umbridge was intensifying her attempts to take control and enforce her draconian ideas of discipline and order upon the students. She seemed to have made it her personal mission to make his life as miserable as possible. He didn't lay down and let it happen though. Harry made sure that Dolores Umbridge understood that there were limits to his patience and forebearance.

* * *

Coming out of his Transfiguration class one morning, a stray spell arced overhead and nearly clipped him in the ear. Harry dove to the ground and pulled his wand readying it for possible retaliation. Fortunately for the other party, a tiny firstie staring in shock at had just happened, Harry didn't return fire. He stormed over and _firmly_ suggested that the kid keep his wand in his holster until the teacher allowed him to retrieve it. He turned his back on the kid and spotted Umbridge standing in front of them with a nasty smirk on her wide face.

"Hem, hem. Threatening a younger student, Mr. Potter? I think a detention is in order."

Glaring back at the toad, Harry snarled, "No! I refuse to accept this detention. I was _not_ threatening the kid in any way. I merely re-informed him of the rules of no magic in the hallways."

Dolores' face took on a puce coloring and her demeanor began to get uglier, "You dare defy me? I'll have you expelled before you can say 'wingardium leviosa' boy!"

Harry crossed his arms in front of his chest, "I don't believe you and yes, I am defying you. I'm warning you right now, _professor_, don't threaten me. You won't enjoy the consequences." He finished that with an ominous stare and stormed off.

* * *

Professor McGonagall pulled Harry into her office later that evening to find out his side of the altercation. She blithely ignored the ranting from the High Inquisitor in favor of the truth from Harry.

"Problems in the halls, Mr. Potter?" she asked in a sardonic manner.

Harry just grumbled, "_Professor_ Umbridge accused me of threatening a younger student after said student cast magic in the hallway outside of your classroom earlier today. The spell came dangerously close to my head and I responded as anyone with a lick of sense would."

"So what happened between you and the other one?"

"Merely reminded him of the rules against performing magic in the hallway, professor."

"I heard you were yelling and getting in the student's face."

Scrunching his face up, Harry snorted, "To do that, I'd have to get down on my knees. Kid is a first year Ravenclaw. I swear they're getting smaller and smaller as time goes by."

Minerva smirked and accepted his answer, "Very well. Never mind about the detention that Madam Umbridge wanted you to attend. I'll just overrule it and I'm returning any points she took off after you left the scene. Oh, Mr. Potter?" He looked back at her as he rose to his feet.

"If you do decide to retaliate against Madam Umbridge, try to remember that she likes to take her tea in the staffroom from 3 to 4pm every Thursday?"

* * *

**Thursday afternoon just before 3pm, outside Dolores Umbridge's office**

Harry waited impatiently for the toad to leave so he could get started with his retaliation. Professor McGonagall's suggestion was surprising in the least as he'd have never thought that she of all people would condone actions against those in authority. In his hands was a box with some tiny rune stones and his father's Cloak of Invisibility draped over his shoulder and covering his head. Finally, the door to Umbridge's office opened and the despised woman waddled out to the staffroom.

He approached the door carefully and scanned it to see if there were any malicious wards in place that would send a signal stating they were being breached. Fortunately for him, there was nothing; just a simple locking charm, easily overridden.

Once inside, Harry cringed at the sight of how _pink_ everything was. _'Okay, let's get to work…'_

* * *

_**Later…**_

Hermione was relaxing on a bench waiting for Harry to come out of the boy's bathroom when she heard the most peculiar sound. _Squeak… "Huff, huff…." Squeak… "Huff, huff…" _This was followed by the muttered prevarications on someone's parentage. She soon spotted the reason for the strange noises as soon as Dolores Umbridge came around the corner. Hermione watched wide, disbelieving eyes as the despicable woman would push her hardest against a stubborn chair that seemed to want to walk in the opposite direction. The High Inquisitor would make it at least two feet forward for every one foot in the direction the chair wanted to go in.

Sensing that her presence was just going to make things more difficult for everyone; especially when she was fighting to not laugh at the scene before her, Hermione jumped up and ran into the boy's bathroom, slamming the door quickly to hide.

"Hermione?" She whirled around and spotted Harry exiting one of the stalls, "Is there something wrong?"

Hermione's loud giggles echoed throughout the room as she sank to the floor.

* * *

It was the start of February when Hedwig finally returned carrying a thick envelope. Hermione squealed with joy and showered the tired owl with hugs and kisses before placing a platter of crispy bacon and a goblet of water in front of the feathered messenger. She carefully opened the envelope and several letters fell out. Picking up the first one, she read:

_Dear Miss Granger;_

_Thank you for your interest in our well-being. It's always a comfort to know that there is still a spark of humanity out there in the world when all else seems to want to tear it away. Yes, it is a shame that your headmaster never seemed to have learned his lesson about appropriating the hard work of others for his own gain and that the problem you had in your first year of school was resolved without too much effort. As for your current situation, we are in fact the ones mentioned in Rowena Ravenclaw's journals and yes, we are very much older than the mid-600s that is reported in various texts. I won't tell you the specific number though; it just doesn't really matter now does it? Old is old and that should be enough._

_Your question about the programming of the Diadem gemstones was correct. We did figure out the alchemical equations on how to format it based on Rowena's Dream and you will be please to know that we're enclosing copies of our notes on how to perform a purge of the corruption as you described it. If you're agreeable, perhaps we could meet and you could show us what you and Mr. Potter have accomplished in your restoration efforts? If you do, simply write your reply on the parchment provided (the one with the blue border), then tap it with your wand and say the activation phrase "Rowena."_

_Hoping you are well (and haven't hyperventilated from reading this),_

_Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel_

"Ha…Harry!" Hermione was indeed hyperventilating as she thrust the letter into his hands and demanded that he read it. His own eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets as he read the letter from the legendary pair. When he finished, Harry could only sit there dumbly and make squeaking noises. Hermione dug around through the rest of the paperwork and found the one that had the blue border. She quickly wrote out a reply suggesting that they meet at the Three Broomsticks pub in Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day as that was the next available date they had to get out of the castle. She folded it up and said the activation phrase. The letter disappeared in a puff of smoke and glittery flame.

She sifted through the rest of the paperwork and found the notes, drawings and procedures to create a new crystalline hard drive and was blown away at the complexity involved. She knew that neither one of them had any hope at duplicating it on their own. They'd need someone skilled enough to even understand what was written and the reason why anyone would need such an item. The only person she knew that had any talent in alchemy was the headmaster.

'_Please let them be willing to make a new one for us. I really don't want to involve the headmaster!' _she thought frantically.

* * *

_**In Potions class…**_

Today was the day when Professor Snape's class was scheduled to be audited by the High Inquisitor. As a result, Severus Snape was in an even fouler mood than usual. The smallest thing would set him off and frankly, it set everyone else in the room on edge too. Hermione smiled wanly at Harry as the professor stalked around his class making snide comments and criticisms against the Gryffindors work and even ignoring the efforts of the Slytherins!

When he reached Harry and Hermione's table however, he stopped and stared at what was slid over to him by Harry. It was a simple scrap of parchment with an incantation written in Harry's usual chicken scratch he called handwriting. Severus quickly figured out what the spell would do but for the life of him, he could not figure out why the spawn of James Potter would even think of assisting. Giving the boy a puzzled stare, Harry merely shrugged and didn't say anything before returning to his brewing.

When Umbridge began her inspection, she condescendingly asked some embarrassing questions about Severus' history as a potions professor, his inability to get the job he wanted and a couple of other subjects that publically humiliated the man. When she moved off to peer into the cauldron of Pansy Parkinson, Severus finally had enough. He quickly reviewed the scrap that held the spell Harry had given him earlier and silently cast it at the offending Pink Toad. The moment it hit, she paused as if curious as to the source of the burst of pale blue light. Shrugging it off, Dolores continued wandering up and down the aisles making her notes about the class and the various brews.

* * *

Class finally let out and Hermione and a couple of others cornered Harry to find out what it was that Snape cast.

With a nonchalant air, he quipped, "Why do you think I'd know anything about what Snape cast?"

Neville Longbottom snorted and pushed his hair out of his face, "Because we all saw you pass that note to the teacher? Come on, Harry; what did it say?"

Harry coughed and let out a smug evil grin, "It was '_quasdam ineptias scribere'_ and it makes the victim write nonsense even though it appears normal to their eyes."

Everyone burst out laughing while Hermione merely shook her head and looked up to the ceiling for Divine Intervention.

"Nice one, Potter," came the drawling compliment from Theodore Nott, a Slytherin in their year, "Simple but effective. Who'd have thought that you Gryffindors knew how to do that?" _'So much for a nice compliment from a Slytherin'_ thought Harry.

* * *

If any of the students had been in the staffroom that evening, they'd have been surprised to learn that Severus shared the prank spell with Minerva, Filius and the other teachers to use on Umbridge at their leisure.

"I'm surprised at you, Severus," Filius commented, "I would've thought that this sort of thing was beneath your attention. Did you at least give Mr. Potter some points?"

Severus merely sniffed at the praise, "I did. I gave him five points even if he didn't hear me."

Pomona chuckled, "That ought to confuse them when they go to tally up their points, find the discrepancy and can't figure out where it came from."

* * *

_**Astronomy class, a week before Valentine's Day…**_

Hermione finally got around to showing off her solar system orrery to Professor Sinastra, the astronomy teacher, and the rest of the class. They were holed up in the castle because it was too cloudy to be outside. She set the box down on the desk, opened it up and pulled out the brass and aluminum mechanical recreation of the heavens.

There were murmurs of surprise and intrigue as she began explaining the machine and its history as well as the time and effort it took to make it in the first place. Professor Sinastra was impressed with the level of detail and craftsmanship that Hermione had put into the device.

"Now when did you figure out the spells to make this, my dear?"

Hermione smirked, "I made this back in muggle primary five before I even knew that magic was real, ma'am." The professor's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Really? How did you do that? I didn't think the muggles had the capability to cut such fine gears."

Just about every muggleborn and raised huffed in annoyance at the professor's ignorance.

"I machined each gear and engraved the plates using a CNC milling machine in the school's machine shop. I did all the design work, the programming and the set up. The shop teacher only helped with the loading of the tooling simply because I was too short to reach at the time," Hermione explained as patiently as she could. It was clear that some of the terminology was going right over everyone's head so she changed tack and explained what some of the machines and programming she used to make the intricate gears using the room's blackboard to draw some pictures describing things in a simplistic manner.

"This is an example of what I had to program in manually because at the time there wasn't a simple enough CAD program for kids my age to learn." She wrote out some of the machine coding to show what the milling machine used to cut into a block of metal.

G55 X200 Y80

Program 1

N001 M06 T1

N002 M03 rpm 400

N003 G01 X-8 Y0 Z0 XYFeed 150

N004 G01 X-8 Y0 Z-0.5 ZFeed 150

N005 G01 X70 Y60 Z-0.5 XYFeed 75

By the time she was done writing it out, the program had nearly fifty lines of code. She did her best to explain in easy to understand words and a lot of hand gestures. The whole class, including the muggleborn and raised were sitting there with their mouths agape. Harry was proudly listening to his girlfriend demonstrate over and over again at just how brilliant she was!

After a moment of stunned silence, a hand from one of the Hufflepuffs went up, "What do you plan on doing with this now?"

Hermione shrugged noncommittally, "Not sure. I'll probably just take it home with me at the end of the year." This caused more shaking of heads. How could anyone this smart be so blasé about their talents.

"Well, amazing job Miss Granger. Take ten points for a job well done and an informative lecture," replied the still flabbergasted professor.

* * *

Harry was relaxing in the Room of Requirement with Dobby. He had been wondering what was new in the elf's life and decided to make it a 'boys only' afternoon. Dobby was thrilled and stunned that Harry would want to spend time with a lowly house-elf but Harry was genuinely curious as to what the day to day life of an elf was like. So Dobby mustered the courage to tell him all about the various bits and pieces that went on in the castle from an elf's perspective. Some of the stories were positively hilarious.

"So Missy Pansy is being wanting to marry Former Bad Young Master Draco for the longest time. Dobby is being naughty by leaving secret messages in Former Young Master's handwriting telling her all sorts of thingsies he is wanting to do when he is getting her alone. Now Missy Pansy is being naughty by dragging Former Bad Young Master into broom closets for hanky pankies!"

Harry roared with laughter, "Lemme guess, Draco doesn't have a clue as to why she's doing this or what to do when he's in the closet?" Dobby shook his head smugly.

"So what else has happened? Any one of the elves fall in love or do your kind not do that?"

Dobby shrugged and blushed a bit, "Elves being falling in love all the times but it is being up to their Masters and Mistresses to make up their minds to when elves can get together." Harry sobered at that and grimaced.

"That just sounds so wrong. But I guess if it works for you… Is there anyone that you're interested in, Dobby?"

Dobby tugged at his pillowcase, looked sheepish and blushed, "There is being one elf Dobby has been noticing."

"Oh? Have you talked with her yet?"

Dobby shook his head, his ears flapping, "Not yet, no. Millie is being a Head Kitchen Elf and doesn't have time to notice Dobby."

"Aww, Dobby. Don't say that, you never know; maybe she has noticed you but is waiting for whomever it is here to give her permission? Have you tried talking to her?" The blush was back in full force. Harry chuckled at the mental image of a tongue-tied Dobby nervously trying to spark up a conversation with a pretty girl elf.

"So maybe I ought to go down to the kitchens and speak with Millie and find out her intentions? Find out if she's even open to the idea of starting a relationship with you?" Dobby's eyes snapped wide open and his mouth dropped in surprise.

"G-Gr-Great Master Ha-Harry Potter would be helping Dobby?" With that, Dobby swooned and passed out.


	8. Chapter 8

**[A/N: There is a section where Hermione gets **_**really**_** technical in her explanation. I pulled sections of that explanation from Wikipedia regarding '5D Optical Data Storage.' If you're into that sort of thing, I recommend you read the rest of it. Fascinating stuff even though a lot of it went over my head. Sorry it took so long to get this out there. Real Life issues and migraines...]**

* * *

**Valentine's Day, Hogsmeade**

Harry escorted Hermione down to the carriages in as much pomp and circumstance as she could stand without losing the ability to breathe from all the faux swooning she was exhibiting at his antics. He finally quit when Minerva caught his eye and quirked up a knowing eyebrow and gave a patented 'Cute but I'm not really amused at this public display' look that sent chills down Harry's spine. He straightened up and bowed his head in submission. That was the final breaking point for Hermione though; she collapsed to the ground laughing her head off. Neville came up to the scene with Luna on his arm; with a sigh, he asked Harry what this was about.

"I was trying to set the mood for today but McGonagall gave me 'Look number 3.'"

Neville flinched, "Ouch. Could've been worse, I once received 'Look number 6.'"

Harry's mouth dropped open in shock; Hermione managed to regain her feet and was trying to get her breathing under control.

"Damn, Nev! What did you do to get _that_ Look?"

Neville kind of shuffled his feet ducked his head and sucked on his lips a bit, "Remember back in second year? That time that I had a month's worth of detentions?" Harry nodded, still in shock, "Well, I accidentally transfigured her favorite picture frame and whatever it was that it held into some kind of bird. Then when I tried to reverse it? I, um… I vanished it."

"Man, Neville… when you screw up, you screw up _big time," _Harry commiserated with his best male friend, "That frame held a picture of her husband and some family members." Neville gestured widely with his hands.

"I know! So, where are we heading today?"

Gesturing between Hermione and himself, "Well, the two of us were going to the Three Broomsticks to meet up with an acquaintance of ours for help on a Runes project. They're experts in their field and hopefully have some insights to our problem." Luna turned back from where she was idly watching a bird peck on the ground and peered knowingly at Harry, her eyes twinkling with silent amusement.

"What about you two?" Hermione asked.

"Neville has said he needs to pick up some plants from the apothecary in town and I thought it would be a nice walk so I'd join him," Luna commented airily. Neville just nodded along.

Harry glanced over at Hermione and with silent facial gestures and ticks, held an impromptu conversation before turning back to the other two, "Why don't you join us after you get done? I'm sure that our guests wouldn't mind and I'm sure they'd love to meet you Luna." Neville glanced back and forth between Harry and Luna before shrugging, "Okay with me. Luna?" She nodded happily, "Sounds good then, say in about an hour?"

"Deal. See you then."

The two couples joined the queue line to get checked out by Filch so they could board an empty carriage. The elderly caretaker sniffed as if he could detect anything illicit and waved a special wand over each one of them. Hermione was incensed that she warranted an extra check simply because she wondered why they were being checked _leaving _the castle. Harry finally caught her by the elbow and dragged her to a carriage.

"I know you want to loudly discuss the pros and cons of a proper search and seizure but now's not the time, Hermione." She merely huffed in frustration but allowed herself to be pushed up the short ladder. Next up was Harry, followed closely by Neville and Luna. Once settled, the horseless carriage began moving and headed to town.

* * *

**Three Broomsticks**

Upon entering the pub, Hermione headed off to the bar to pick up some drinks for the two of them. Harry waved to a few friends he'd spotted sitting off the main path. He found Madam Rosemerta finishing up cleaning a table and asked her if there was an available room for him and his guests.

"You describing an older couple with a slight French accent?" Harry nodded, "Right, they're already here and in Room 2." She pointed in the right direction before bustling off. Harry caught Hermione's eye and held up two fingers then in the direction of the room. She gave him a thumbs up in reply before turning back to the bartender.

Harry knocked on the closed door and heard a voice within calling for him to enter. Inside, sitting at the table with a bottle of Butterbeer each were the legendary pair, Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel. The older couple rose to their feet and introductions were passed between them. Hermione entered, placed their drinks on the table and joined in with the introductions as well. Motioning for everyone to retake their seats, Harry got the conversation underway.

"Thank you very much for taking the time to meet with us, Mr. and Mrs. Flamel. It would've been a disappointing thing if the project had to be abandoned if we believed that you had died as it was reported by Dumbledore."

Nicholas scoffed, "When did he say that?"

"The day after the whole Philosopher's Stone thing was dealt with by Director Bones and her team. Nothing stays secret for long in the castle unless you're careful and frankly, I'm surprised that the Stone wasn't discovered earlier. It was the talk of the students for nearly a week."

"Do you have the Diadem with you now?" Perenelle inquired. Hermione nodded and dug into her bag, withdrawing the Diadem and corrupted gemstone. Perenelle closely examined both while Nicholas and Harry continued their conversation about the goings-on in the castle over the past five years.

"Most impressive with your restoration work, my dear. Was it you that discovered the Diadem?" Hermione shook her head and explained that it was Harry, in fact had discovered it during a tour of the fabled Room of Requirement on the seventh floor. Harry filled in some of the details of where it was within the room and what led to his initial theory as to what it could've been and why.

Nicholas nodded thoughtfully as he listened in, "Well, you were correct in that it is a computer of sorts. Rowena Dreamt it over the course of a weekend and when she awoke began sketching it out as best she could. There were some elements that made no sense to us at the time but eventually became understood the closer we got to the modern era. There were features that would've been nice to include but would've been an absolute nightmare trying to get 10th century materials to recreate."

"Like what?"

"A printer for one. I remember that we tried to find the materials to be able to print out what the Diadem saw when operating. Kind of difficult to find circuit components nearly a thousand years ago. In the end, it was decided to see if the Diadem could be hooked up to the Godric's family pensieve."

Harry smiled as he leant back in his chair and took a sip of his butterbeer, "It evidently worked. We used the same thing to emulate a hard drive to get the Diadem to boot up." Perenelle clapped silently in appreciation.

"So to get to the crux of the question and the reason why we're visiting, you need help with formatting the gem to act as a hard drive?" Nicholas sighed as he finished his beer.

Hermione ferverently nodded, "Yes, please. I don't want this thing to just collect dust as some shiny relic to history. We've come so far and made so many discoveries."

Nicholas glanced over at his wife who didn't say anything but reached into their bag and retrieved a thick and bound journal of some age. Hermione's eyes started glittering at the thought of the knowledge within and that she'd be able to read in a moment. Perenelle scooted closer to her and unbound the book.

"I will only show you the pertinent sections, my dear. The other pages are charmed to prevent snooping," she explained with an amused grin on her face as Hermione's fell in a sad pout. Harry chuckled as he too, scooted over to peer inside.

* * *

Inside the chapter, the formulations and calculations were like a completely different language that neither Harry nor Hermione could understand. Perenelle waved her wand over the pages and they glowed for a bit before resolving themselves into modern English. Hermione squealed and pulled the book closer as her eyes darted over the inscriptions. Harry sighed as he sat back down, waving at his girlfriend to take the lead.

"The computer aspect isn't really my thing. I mean, I can understand the basics of operation but the whole 'nitty-gritty' programming side is beyond me. I'll just get the highlights from her later." Nicholas laughed.

"So what's your favorite subject in school so far?"

"Runes for the most part. Elder Futhark to be specific though Younger does have its uses. I created Runic Function Cards that perform a specific action depending on what I need. I'm also in love with Charms, especially with the way Professor Flitwick teaches it." Harry explained with a slight smile on his face then dug into his bag and pulled out the deck of cards.

"What are your hopes and plans for the future?" Nick continued as he inspected the cards.

"Well, Director Croaker of the Department of Mysteries has helped us on a couple of points in this project and has not-so-subtly suggested that we join his team. It does have its attractiveness but to do that for the rest of my life, I don't know." He shrugged and took another swig of his drink, "I know one thing is for certain is that I want to go back to the muggle world and get my O-level certification as a fall-back."

Nick nodded sagely, "Good idea. Never settle on one thing in your pursuit of education." He motioned towards Hermione who was now discussing the journal's contents with his wife using jargon-laced terminology, "Do you know her plans?"

Harry pursed his lips, "I think she wants to do something along the same lines. It's bounced around a couple of times to different things. She's talked about wanting to teach, work in the Department of Magical Creatures, things of that nature." He was halfway through another sip when he remembered an earlier conversation.

"Mmm…before I forget again. Would you have a problem if we were to allow two more people into this gathering? Both are close friends of ours, one of which is very special."

Nick shrugged a shoulder, "I don't see why not. What are their names?"

"Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood."

Nicholas' eyebrows rose at the mention of Luna's name, "Miss Lovegood is coming? Yes, I would be pleased to meet the Heiress of Clan Ravenclaw." He grinned as some memory floated up. Harry smirked, "I take it from the look on your face that there's some pleasant memories?"

Nick nodded once and cracked his knuckles, "Yes, we've maintained a warm relationship with the Lovegoods since they attained the heirship to the Ravenclaw line. It was a shame to see the primary line die out but, what can you do when you're not blessed with foresight like Rowena was and with Helena being a spoiled brat."

Harry was surprised, "Really? Her ghost doesn't seem to be a brat but then again, a ghost is supposed to be nothing more than an imprint of who you were and what you strove to be when alive."

"Is she a quiet, shy kind of ghost who shies away from interacting with others? Only gives out information when cornered and pressed?" Harry thought for a moment before agreeing, "Well, she was like that in real life too. The brattiness came out when something or someone didn't go along with her plans."

* * *

An hour later there was a soft knocking heard on the door. Harry answered it and found both Neville and Luna waiting patiently on the other side. Smiling happily, he greeted and invited both into the room.

"Neville Francis Longbottom, it is my pleasure and honor to introduce you to Mr. Nicholas and Mrs. Perenelle Flamel." Neville stammered out a greeting and shook the hands of the legendary couple. Luna meanwhile, merely waved dreamily and hugged both, much to the shock and consternation of Hermione who hadn't been paying attention to Harry's and Nick's conversation.

"Luna? You seem awfully familiar with them?"

"Oh yes, they've been to my home many times over the years to visit with Daddy and I." It took Hermione a moment to remember the reason for that before slapping a palm to her forehead and calling herself a dummy for forgetting. Shaking it off, she turned back to trying to decipher the complexities of the alchemical formatting process.

There was a squeal of excitement a little while later when the realization of what Hermione had read came to light. The girl was practically bouncing in her seat as she traced out pathways and made connections.

"Something good, Hermione?" Harry inquired nonplussed.

Hermione could only stare at her boyfriend with sparkling eyes and dumbly open and close her mouth without sound. Perenelle chuckled and Nicholas remarked that she must have gotten to the part that discussed crystalline data/memory storage and its uses.

"Harry, this crystalline storage is capable of storing up to 360 _terabytes_ worth of data for _billions of years!_ The current data storage is nowhere even close to that! The concept is the bulk storing of data optically in non-photosensitive transparent materials such as fused quartz, which is renowned for its high chemical stability and resistance. " She turned to the older couple, "How did you manage to create a femtosecond-laser back then?"

Perenelle huffed, "A lot of patience, tons of arithmancy and more luck than anything else. We used a specially created wand to focus light into a concentrated beam then connected it to a pensieve. The biggest trick was to get the timing down right."

Hermione blinked owlishly for a moment before continuing her explanation to Harry who waved her on, "To continue, the storage media consists of fused quartz where the spatial dimensions, intensity, polarization and wavelength is used to modulate data. By introducing gold or silver nanoparticles embedded in the material, their plasmonic properties can be exploited."

Neville was completely lost as was Luna though her attention kept getting pulled back to the window where a squirrel was busy chattering at something higher in the branches.

Nick slid over to his wife, "I think we lost them for the time being, don't you think?" She huffed in amusement.

"I daresay they are a good choice to share this knowledge with. Nick, what do you say to an apprenticeship for the pair of them? I know you decided to never again do so after Albus, but I think these two are different."

Nick tugged on his beard thoughtfully for a moment before replying, "Let's give them until they pass their NEWTs. Two years ought to be enough time for them to make a decision." They turned back to continue listening to the younger pair's conversation.

* * *

"What sort of testing was done with the crystals? Have there been any studies done to determine the limits of this method?" Harry pressed. Despite most of it being way over his head, it _was _fascinating stuff. Hermione slid over the journal and began pointing out key notations as to power consumption, accelerated aging measurements, decay time at specific temperatures and other technical information.

Hermione whisper-squealed, "Harry! I think this is holographic too. Sweet Baby Maeve, this sort of technology hasn't been _invented_ yet!"

"Would you be able to recreate it with the technology we do have?"

She shrugged, "Probably. Heck, they did it back in the 10th century. It ought to be a doddle for 1995 tech."

Harry scrunched up his face as he tried to picture some of the descriptions, "Just what does it mean by 360 terabytes of data? Can you put that in terms I can understand?"

Hermione leant back in her chair and looked to the ceiling in thought, "Picture everything that has ever been written. All the books in the every library around the world, magical and non-magical. All of it being able to fit on a quartz wafer the size of my thumb. "

Harry could only blink at that. It blew his mind to the point of incoherence that something like that was possible, "So short answer; based on what you've learned here, can you replicate the gemstone drive? What would you need me to order and have shipped? Can it be done by the end of the year or is this one of those long-term projects?"

Hermione grimaced in thought, "I want to say that yes, I can do this. Perenelle was kind enough to let me copy the needed pages from the journal for my own use. Can it be done here in the castle? I don't see why not. Madam Flamel? When you made this for the first time; was it here in the castle?"

Perenelle nodded, "Yes, we were working out of an unused storage room up on the seventh floor and before you ask, at the time that's all the Room of Requirement was before Rowena turned her attention to modifying it into its current ability."

* * *

While Harry and Hermione were discussing the logistics of getting more muggle technology into the castle and keeping it safe from Umbridge or Dumbledore; Neville and to some extent, Luna were having a pleasant conversation with the Flamels about Herbology and Cryptomagizoology. Nicholas was laughing near uncontrollably when he found out what Luna's prank was to Dumbledore in order to keep him from finding the Room of Requirement and his senior staff members a couple of weeks ago.

Still hiccupping, he asked her what it was she used to display the environments she'd created.

"They were a set of 4 rune wardstones and special control bracelet created by the Weasley Twins," Luna replied calmly, "They're the school's leading pranksters and they were the ones who coordinated with all the rest of the students to keep the headmaster busy."

Both Nick and Perenelle glanced over at Neville but the boy shook his head, "I wasn't part of it, at least the indoor stuff. If the headmaster had come outside to the greenhouses then I would've been able to use a few hallucinogenic spore plants but unfortunately, I never got that opportunity."

Perenelle looked concerned, "They have such dangerous plants there in the greenhouses?"

Neville shrugged a shoulder, "It's only in the advanced greenhouses. No one is allowed in unless you have permission from Professor Sprout and even then there are safety protocols in place if something got loose. There's a couple of species in there that are just shy of being classified as an animal and are relatively mobile. If the headmaster had come into contact with the hallucinogenic spores, an alarm would've sounded and he'd be transported to a decontamination room where he'd be stripped, scrubbed down and force fed an antidote."

Both Flamels were impressed with the safety measures taken. Neville explained that it was on the strong recommendation from a former muggleborn student that went to go work at the London Royal Conservatory for the professor to see firsthand what was required for the more dangerous work.

"Prior to that, there was very little in the way of anything providing safety. A hand-washing station was about it."

* * *

Their visit was eventually ended, much to Hermione's dismay, as both sets of younger couples had to finish their shopping and whatnot before heading back to the castle. Hermione wrote down her particulars and invited the Flamels to contact her if need be. Hugs and handshakes were given out and they exited the pub.

Neville and Luna had decided to head over to Honeydukes while Hermione and Harry needed more stationary from Tomes and Scrolls; especially in light of how much more writing they'd be doing for the upcoming planning session.

Harry was examining the box that held the parchment and jokingly wondered out loud if the store owner might sell him the whole thing. Hermione shook her head and grumbled something about wishing that Hogwarts would get with the times and start using paper and biros like the rest of the world.

"You know, Hermione. I bet I could ask Dobby if he'd be willing to go into the muggle world and pick up a few boxes of lined paper."

A look of puzzlement grew on her face, "Would he even be able to do that? How would he hide what he is to muggles who aren't in the know?"

Harry shrugged, "Let's ask. Dobby!

There was a slight crack of noise as Dobby popped into the shop, "Master Harry called for Dobby?"

Harry knelt down and inquired if Dobby was able to disguise his appearance so he could go into the muggle world to pick up some supplies for them.

Dobby nodded his head so fast, his ears flapped, "Oh yes, Master Harry. There is being a glamour that Dobby uses whenever he needs. "

Hermione also knelt down, "Dobby? Is there a specific store you know of that caters to muggleborns that stay within the magical world and sells things like lined notebook paper, biro pens, paperclips and the like?"

Dobby thought hard for a moment before his face brightened and he nodded quickly, "Yes Missy Grangy! Dobby be going there for Former Mistress Narcissy when she needed art supplies."

Harry laughed at that, "Did Lord Malfoy know about that? After all of his rantings about the muggleborn encroachment, his wife buys art supplies from a muggle store?

Dobby let a sly smirk grow on his face as he told them about Lord Malfoy's regular purchases of muggle beauty care products. Harry burst out laughing while Hermione summed up the ponce's attitude towards the non-magical: "Hypocrite."

* * *

By the end of the week, Dobby had bought enough notebook and graph paper to sink a ship, more biros in every available color than was thought possible and all sorts of associated goodies to make any office worker happy. To thank the diminutive elf, Harry told Dobby to name his reward. To no one's surprise, Dobby wanted to bond with Harry and be his personal elf.

"Are you sure that's what you want, Dobby? I thought you enjoyed being free?"

Dobby stood resolute, "It is being what Dobby wants. Being free to choose Dobby's master. Dobby knows that Harry Potter will be a _good_ Master."

Hermione watched all this with her head tilted in thought, "Is that where I'd been going wrong? I've been wanting to get the elves freed from slavery. I wanted to get them wages and healthcare."

Dobby took Hermione's hands and looked into her eyes solemnly, "Being an elf means that we _have_ to bond with a witch or wizard or we is losing our connection to magic and dying. There is not being any other way. For elves, payment weakens the bond and prevents elves like Dobby from living happily and healthy."

"And healthcare? What if you get sick, how can I or others treat you?"

Dobby looked confused for a moment, "Does Missy Grangy mean taking elves to Lady Healer in Hogwarts?"

"That or Saint Mungo's. What do elves normally do when they're sick?"

Dobby nodded in understanding, "Ah, we is seeing our own elvish healers. Elves are not like humans. If Missy Grangy keeps the secret, Dobby will tell her that elves are cousins to Fae. Magic heals us and keeps us healthy."

That floored Hermione and to some extent, Harry. That was new to them!

"Explains how elves never seem to age unless they're with a bad Master," commented Harry as he thought back to when he'd first met Dobby.

* * *

**[A/N2: So how was that? Too much technical information? What are your thoughts about elves being related to Fae? Please leave a comment in the review box. Thanks!]**


	9. Chapter 9

**[****A/N: As Anakin Skywalker said in the beginning of Episode 3 over the skies of Coruscant, "Here's where the fun begins."]**

* * *

**Mid March, Gryffindor Common Room**

Hermione had started studying for their upcoming OWLs and basically browbeat it into both Neville and Harry to do the same. Harry surprised her by repeatedly and correctly answering any questions she had on the subjects he was taking without consulting any of his notes. When pressed, he replied that he'd been studying just as hard as she'd been since first year.

"That summer after first year, I asked the then Head Boy how to contact the Board of Examiners in the Department of Education. From there, I asked what sort of an examination would be held during our OWLs. They sent me practice exams and study guides as well as recommendations for further reading."

"…"

"Hermione?" Harry waved his hand in front of her blank face.

"They…ugh…I've been stressing over coming up with my own tests and the Board of Examiners just gives them out if you write to them?! _Why doesn't anyone tell me these things_!" She screeched in indignation.

Harry gestured futilely, "I can't answer that. I do have copies of what they gave me; they're in my trunk." He quickly got up and hurried off to his room knowing that Hermione would be very impatient if he dawdled.

When he returned, Harry handed over the sample tests and the recommended reading list. Settling back into his chair, Harry wondered when the Flamels would be ready to help them with the gemstone formatting.

"Hermione?"

"Mmph?"

"Do you know when the Flamels are going to be ready to help us? I know they had some preparations to make."

Hermione sighed as she reluctantly lifted her eyes from the paperwork, "Nicholas suggested that we be ready to leave here for a weekend trip starting on the twenty-third."

Harry leant his head back against the chair headrest as he thought about where they were on the calendar, "So…in less than a week's time?"

"Yup."

"I wonder what their lab looks like? I bet it has all sorts of cauldrons full of strange potions or maybe something that looks like one of those mad scientist laboratories from the movies."

* * *

_**One week later…**_

The Flamels arrived at the school gates and greeted the pair as they waited with a day bag each. Hermione was clearly fretting over the possibility that she'd forgotten something.

"All set there, Miss Granger?"

Hermione whirled around and let out a squeak of surprise which morphed into embarrassment, "I'm sorry. I just keep getting the feeling that I've forgotten something."

Perenelle waved her hand dismissively, "Not to worry, dear. I'm sure that it's just nerves from meeting us." Harry laughed at the look of chagrin on his girlfriend's face.

The whirl of other dimensional magics faded as Harry nearly face-planted upon arrival. Hermione merely shook her head at her boyfriend's antics as she helped him to his feet. They turned and were stunned to silence to find out that their destination wasn't some fortress or country estate but was in reality a clean and well maintained nondescript building in the middle of an industrial park. Glancing at each other curiously, they followed the elder couple inside after Nick opened the front door.

"Just give me a couple of minutes to shut off the alarm," Nick commented as he made his way around the receptionist's desk towards a wall panel. Perenelle idly picked through the mail in a box mounted to the wall.

The teens were then led through a remarkably normal appearing hallway into an observation room with a window in one wall. Inside was a state-of-the-art clean room, complete with hazmat suits and hard-mounted airlines.

Both teens' eyes were wide open in surprise and their jaws nearly scraping the ground. Harry glanced over at Hermione who merely shook her head in stunned silence. Nick laughed at their reaction.

"Not at all what you were expecting when you hear 'alchemical laboratory' right? Don't worry; you're not the first to find themselves in that sort of mindset. What you have to understand that given our age-defying abilities, we have the rarest opportunity to learn from past mistakes and grow from it. The ancient alchemists were limited to what they had at the time. Believe me when I say that there were many grumblings from those in the trade that they wished they could have the sort of space and conditions that astronomers had. "

Harry turned with a puzzled look on his face so Nick elaborated that alchemy had always been looked down upon as sort of the bastard child of the sciences. The hot ticket subjects back then were things that could easily be proven like astronomy, natural sciences and the like.

"Of course, it wasn't for the advances made by the old-timers, you wouldn't have the concepts and procedures handed down that evolved into modern chemistry," Nick groused.

Nick led the group into the changing and preparation room to the clean-room laboratory where they got changed and loaded up with a safety lecture and handling instructions. He gave a fairly in-depth guided tour and even showed them the femtosecond laser that would be used for the actual formatting of the gemstone.

"I thought you used a special wand for that process," Hermione commented as she examined the control board.

Nick cocked his head and peered at the girl, "It's been nearly a thousand years since we've needed to use a primitive wand, Miss Granger. Things have advanced since then."

* * *

_**Two days later…**_

Hermione was sitting in the Runes Laboratory along with Harry, Director Croaker and Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Babbling. Resting on the table in front of them was the Diadem, Hermione's diagnostic gear and the newly minted and formatted gemstone hard drive. Harry was busy describing some of the things they'd gotten to see and experience while working over the weekend with the Flamels while she was busy puttering around getting her stuff hooked up and powered on.

"It's a shame that they have wards in place that won't allow me to share the memories in the pensieve. I think the biggest shock was finding out just how…normal everything was in that laboratory compared to the setup Professor Snape has down in the dungeons."

Croaker chuckled, "I bet it's like comparing apples and oranges, eh?" Harry gestured with his hand and made a face of agreement. "Not surprising, really. Especially if you think in the terms that Mr. Flamel mentioned. I'm still in awe that they even contacted you. They're very secretive and reclusive to even the research community within the magical world.

Hermione turned to the assembled adults, "Okay! That should be it. I've got my stuff ready and all I think we need to do now is connect the new drive." With that, she picked up the gem drive and clipped it into the empty space on the Diadem.

"Do you need to solder it, Hermione?"

She shook her head slowly, "I don't think so. There wasn't any before. I think it was done without so Rowena and the Flamels could plug and play as need be."

With a moment's hesitation, she activated the power array. The Diadem lit up just like it did before but unlike before when the memory check was run the Diadem continued to glitter before settling down with only a couple of stones twinkling.

The others held their breath as they awaited confirmation from her diagnostics that it was up and running. With a beaming, triumphant smile and a series of punches to the air; Hermione declared that the Diadem was up and running!

After a thousand years, Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem Computer was ready to connect to the school.

* * *

_**Still in the Runes Lab…**_

"So…now what?" That was the question running through their minds. Flitwick and Babbling were closely examining the construction of the Diadem in its current wait state while Minerva was in conference with Croaker. Harry was examining his rune connections between the Diadem and Hermione's gear while the girl herself was reading the results of the various checks on the monitor.

Minerva finished with Croaker and cleared her throat as she addressed the small group, "Mr. Potter? Miss Granger? First off, congratulations on accomplishing something this wonderful. I won't award points because I think this goes beyond mere House Points. Now, I have partial access to the school's wards as Deputy Headmistress. My question is how would I connect my access to this device? Would it be safe for me to put on?"

Both Harry and Hermione thought about that and held a mini silent conversation with each other before turning back, "It should be fine for you to wear, Professor. That's what it was designed to do but I'm worried that you wouldn't know what to do if it starts asking technical questions."

"What are you proposing then?" inquired Professor Babbling, "You're not thinking of donning it yourself, are you?"

Hermione looked a bit sheepish, "Well, yes I was. It makes sense really. I'm the only one who understands the concept and premise of computer languages and coding." The adults were shaking their heads against the idea.

Harry was quiet during the brief argument, "Croaker? Could you get the pensieve here quickly?"

Croaker bowed his head in thought, "I can… What are you thinking?"

Harry shrugged, "There must be a way to see what Hermione would be seeing after she plugs into the school's wards. I think I could splice something together to route it to the pensieve so you can make changes or recommendations to problems as they crop up."

The adults glanced at each other. Flitwick and Babbling shrugged their assent while Minerva looked pensive before finally acquiescing. With that, Croaker contacted someone in the DoM using a communications mirror then made a space for the incoming pensieve when it arrived via house-elf delivery. The pair of them worked quickly to connect the arrays needed to the pensieve.

Once that was done, Hermione lifted the Diadem and placed it on her head.

* * *

Colors.

A myriad of various colors, many of which Hermione doubted could be real. There was no sound, no sense of touch…nothing. If it wasn't for the fact that she could feel herself still breathing, she'd doubt that anything existed. She tried to look around but there wasn't any sense of direction. She was just floating in a sea of colors.

It could've been seconds, minutes or even centuries but slowly Hermione could begin to distinguish shapes and shadows within this maelstrom of light. The shapes slowly coalesced into fuzzy distortions of Harry and the others. She could see Harry's mouth moving but there still wasn't any sound. She reached her arm up and could even see that her arm was the same fuzzy distortion condition as everything else.

"Her…can….e?" the sound was faint and scratchy. Kind of like listening to an ancient recording.

'_Harry?'_ she thought. Harry's distorted image appeared to nod its head and she could see the others make some sort of gestures. _'Did I say anything out loud? Is that why he nodded?' _ Again he nodded and appeared to scribble something on a sheet of parchment.

When he held it up, she could sort of make out the words: "You're speaking very slowly. Are you okay? "

'_Yes, I am. It's very strange from my end. Everything is out of focus and surrounded by a bunch of colors. There's very little sound.'_

She could see Harry rise up and poke around the connections of the Diadem. Just then everything snapped into place. Light, sound, touch, everything resolved itself suddenly.

Harry peered down into her eyes, "Better?" His voice and movements sounded much more natural.

Hermione blinked in surprise, "Yes. What happened?"

"One of the smaller gems wasn't seated properly. Probably got knocked around during handling. How do you feel?"

She looked inwards and determined that she felt fine, "There's no odd sensations like I was initially feeling. There is the sense of a great power lying just beyond my reach though. I would surmise that it's the castle waiting impatiently to connect up with the Diadem. How did you know what was wrong?"

"We can see everything you see through the connection to the pensieve," remarked Croaker as he rose up from his chair, pad of paper and pen in hand.

"Do you feel you can continue, Miss Granger?" Minerva asked as Croaker leaned over her and made some notes on a pad. Hermione nodded and said that she was ready to take the next step. She looked over at Harry who had a bit of worry marring his features. She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

* * *

Over the course of the next hour, Hermione was guided by the built-in programming of the Diadem to being connected to the castle wards as a new user. Minerva walked her through the steps needed to become registered as an authorized member of the staff to access the wards. They watched in amazement as long dormant features that were rumored to have existed suddenly came to life. Lights clicked on and off, elves were suddenly appearing or disappearing in the room as they felt the various requests through their own magic. Various guardian statues suddenly came to life and began a patrol only to stop and revert back to their previous states. The Grand Staircase halted and returned to its original positions.

Harry was grinning like a loon as he watched his girlfriend plug in to such an amazing experience. He saw what she saw from her perspective in the pensieve. At one point of examining some of the warnings and alarms that had been listed, he noticed something…odd.

"Hold up, Hermione. Back up to line 687, will you? What is the… There! The Chamber of Secrets."

"What's the problem, Harry?" asked Professor Babbling.

"What's a basilisk? According to this, the chamber's basilisk had been activated and removed from its enchanted slumber several times during the last fifty years or so."

Silence pervaded the room before Harry was nearly pushed out of the way by Minerva and Croaker who stared at the pensieve. The adults began quickly chattering amongst themselves, ignoring the teens.

Hermione turned and glanced curiously at Harry who merely shrugged and asked her, "Is there a way for you to see within this chamber?"

Hermione nibbled on her lower lip and cocked her head, "Let's try it." She dug around through the various enchantments and traced the pathways to where the chamber supposedly was. Torches that lay dormant for nearly a thousand years sprung to life and illuminated a series of tunnels. Harry noticed that there was one tunnel that led to the bathroom on the second floor where the ghost of Moaning Myrtle haunted. The two of them saw the deteriorated condition of said tunnel, so she put out a call for the elves to begin reconstruction. Moving down the tunnel, the two teens could see an ornate round plug-like door built into the wall.

Harry felt someone leaning up against his shoulder and judged from the scent of the aftershave concluded it was Professor Flitwick.

Moving past the door, the tunnel continued for a short distance before opening up into a vast cavern like space. There were snake motifs everywhere they looked. It was on the supporting pillars, the walls and even the floor. Opposite to the side in which they entered was a floor to ceiling statue that, according to the school's records, was a likeness of Salazaar Slytherin himself.

Harry grunted in bemusement, "Not much of a looker, was he?" Hermione shushed him as she continued to probe deeper into the cavern.

"Miss Granger? How are you able to view things this way? It's almost like there's someone walking around down there," asked Minerva as she trembled slightly at the sight of all the bones and dried carcasses of long dead animals.

"Not sure but it comes in handy."

The next thing they saw was darkness despite that Hermione's declaration that the 'lights were on.'

"Try pulling back a bit," Harry instructed quietly.

As she did that, it quickly became clear as to why it seemed so dark in a lit room. The sensor had started right up against the body of a positively _huge_ snake! It was coiled up and clearly asleep; its breathing was slow and deep, its unblinking eyes a bright and vivid yellow; staring off at nothing.

"Nice to see that those eyes don't affect us," Croaker commented dryly, "Look at the size of that thing! It's got to be something like sixty to seventy feet long!"

* * *

The decision to move on was made and seeing as how the snake was still asleep and unlikely to come forth unless called for, Hermione continued her sweep through the castle and the grounds. She examined the defenses and access points to the surrounding territory. She peered into each room and observed the various students and staff as they went along their business unaware. Harry started laughing when they spotted Professor Snape sitting in his office with his feet up on the desk munching on an Oreo and sipping a glass of milk; the sounds of Santana playing in the background.

Shaking his head in amusement, Harry commented that he'd never peg Professor Severus Snape as a Latin Rock kind of guy nor an Oreo Muncher. Hermione giggled and replied that at least he ate it correctly by splitting the cookies off and eating the crème center first.

Next up in their search for something interesting, they came across Draco Malfoy dressed up in a tutu dancing to the lacy sounds of Swan Lake. Hermione nearly fell out of her chair laughing while Harry slid to the floor gasping and wheezing. Dolores Umbridge cured them of their mirth as they witnessed her hiding out in an abandoned classroom and torturing a helpless first year muggleborn. Squealing in disgust and anger, Hermione lashed out and used the castle to stun Umbridge and stick her to the wall. The student was also stunned and transported to the infirmary with a note for Madam Pomfrey to treat the student for the various injuries inflicted upon him. Director Croaker used his mirror to contact Director Bones at the DMLE to come and arrest the Toad.

Their next stop was the office of Albus Dumbledore.

* * *

_**In the Headmaster's Office…**_

Albus stopped what he was doing and glanced around the room. He could swear that he was being watched and no, that didn't include the portraits of the previous heads. It was that indefinable feeling of being watched and it was really starting to unnerve him. He got up and slowly paced around the room, examining various objects and even poked his head out the door and window. Settling himself back in his chair, he picked up his quill and continued to write his plans for the next step in Harry Potter's destiny.

* * *

From what he could read, Harry's anger and despair was growing exponentially. _'How DARE the headmaster do this or expect these…things from him!'_ A comforting hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned and saw that Professor McGonagall was gently restraining him from marching up to the old goat's office and tearing strips off his wrinkled hide.

"Hermione? Are there any records of the headmaster's manipulations and actions regarding these…plans?"

Hermione glanced through the database and paled, "Yes. Hundreds of recordings. Some are written, some are video and audio. I, I'm going to make a new folder for this, separate and protected so he can't delete them. He's aware of my presence even if he can't identify that it's actually me."

"Do that, Miss Granger. Then when you are finished, you should disconnect so we can discuss what to do next."

* * *

**[A/N2: So how was that? Please leave a review. Just so y'all know, once this is finished, I do plan on going back and fleshing out some details. So if you have any ideas on how to improve things (funny scenes, dialogue, general ideas, etc.) leave a suggestion!]**


	10. Chapter 10

**[A/N: Alrighty folks, here's where things get…explosive. I alluded to it in the last chapter so here is some of the revelations in what Hermione discovered in the musings and recordings pertaining to the machinations of one Albus Dumbledore… As always, please be kind and leave a review or comment for improvements.]**

**[A/N2: Because of the recent pandemic, I'm also going to give y'all a bit of a laugh. Consider this to be Albus' Bad Day Two.]**

* * *

**Ancient Runes Laboratory, a week later**

Harry entered the room and immediately spotted that there was something seriously wrong with Hermione. It was probably the red-rimmed eyes, sniffling nose and the pile of tissues haphazardly spilling over the trash bin next to her. Her hands were visibly shaking and she was staring off into space. On her head was the Diadem, still plugged into her gear as well as the Pensieve (which was hidden inside of a box to disguise it from curious students and staff.)

Harry knelt down in front of her and traced a finger over her cheek, "Hermione? What's wrong? What did you see?"

Hermione shook her head quickly, as if to dispel the comforting words, "I've seen horrible things, Harry. Some within the school over the millennia, some from the students but the most horrific things were from Dumbledore…" she finished out in a horrified whisper.

Harry gave her a soft kiss on her forehead and made to remove the Diadem but she pulled back. He tilted his head in surprise and a little bit of curiosity.

"I'm trying to distract myself after all those horrible memories and recording by watching something light-hearted and funny. I'm watching the elf babies learning to walk and crawl in their nursery," she smiled sadly and occasionally giggled, "There's one in particular. Little thing is waddling around carrying a blanket in one hand, a thumb in his mouth and a little round pot belly trying in vain to order around the caretakers."

Harry smiled in amusement at the mental image that conjured before getting serious again, "Hermione? Did you write down what you've seen somewhere? We should get into that habit of documenting everything."

Hermione pointed to the Pensieve, "Everything I witnessed is in there, Harry. I probably would've broken my entire stash of quills or been so…disturbed, my handwriting would've been illegible."

* * *

_**Inside the Pensieve…**_

Within a matter of moments of watching the recordings, Harry was positive that if it ever came to light, Dumbledore would be lynched in the streets let alone spend any time in Azkaban. The manipulations even started WAY before Albus became a teacher. Evidence of memory charms against students who got in his way to greatness, papers or other publications Albus felt that should be attributed to him and the like stunned the raven-haired teen.

Just so there was some semblance of order in the viewing for Croaker and McGonagall, Harry began organizing the memories.

**Childhood/Teenage Years**

*****Albus began experimenting in Dark/Dark Grey magic on his sister and younger brother through subtle introductions of potions and mental manipulations. Memory charmed both using befuddlement and forgetfulness potion infused pillows and sheets on their beds. Blamed the torture and subsequent obscurial creation of his sister, Ariana Dumbledore on three local muggle boys who had teased and threw rocks at him about his style of clothing the week prior. That his father was blamed and sentenced to Azkaban meant little to Albus.

*****Albus knew full well it was he that fired off the Killing Curse at his sister during the duel with Gellert Grindelwald. She had been trying to interfere with their battle so he killed her and blamed it on Gellert. Albus then enchanted her gravesite to prevent her ghost from haunting him or informing others of his misdeeds.

**Hogwarts**

*****Convinced the Sorting Hat to send him to Gryffindor despite the Hat's desire to send him to Slytherin. Argued that it showed more cunning and craftiness to be sorted to the opposite House.

*****Continued his experiments of subtle mental manipulations of his fellow students. Expanded his experiments by tapping into the ideas and suggestions of research from the older students under the guise of protecting himself from said attacks.

*****Formulated and organized a small riot by the pureblood students by suggesting that their OWLs and NEWTs were being altered to give muggleborn students an unfair advantage. Started writing treatises on how to manipulate people for his view on how the world ought to be.

*****By his fourth year, was involved indirectly with a number of pureblood vs. muggleborn incidents at the school. Any time someone tried to pin him to a specific crime, Albus always had an alibi and gave off that now patented 'disappointed grandfatherly air.'

*****Albus kept his fingers and nose in the student grapevine and whenever someone came up with an interesting topic to be potentially published, said student or even a staff member would find themselves the unfortunate victim of an accident that left them unable to remember what it was that led to their predicament. Several papers that were published under Albus' name was in fact discovered and written by others. (Four of the twelve uses for Dragon's blood is a direct result of this.)

**Post Hogwarts**

*****Albus' work with Flamel was well-documented and a matter of public record including from the legendary Alchemist himself. _(What wasn't really known was the reality of what it was that Albus had been taught. Nicholas had always claimed that he had taught Albus everything the younger man knew. What wasn't picked up on was that Albus hadn't been taught everything _Flamel_ knew. As a result, the secret of how to manufacture the mythical Philosopher's Stone remained well-hidden. Nicholas had told Harry this during one of their discussions on their visit to the Flamel's lab.)_

*****Albus' vanquishing of the Dark Wizard Grindlewald at the end of World War 2 was not the legendary dueling battle that everyone remembers. Gellert had been sleeping in a cave alone; Because there was no one there, Albus had snuck in the dead of night and altered Gellert's memory of the event. Albus then waged a titanic battle against himself and a rock wall. Gellert himself was already weak to the point of collapse from being on the run from the combined magical and muggle military forces so a pixie could've taken him out. Albus was the one who claimed that he had confronted the Dark Wizard and forced him to capitulate to Albus' superior skill. Grindlewald was then jailed in his own prison but even then his accommodations were nothing like that had been reported. The evil wizard wasn't forced to suffer the dank, dark and crude cells like the political prisoners had been forced to endure. No, Gellert was given all the appointments that a visiting king would be used to such as healthy meals, regular medical visits and the like.

*****Dumbledore used the fame and fortune that came with the 'defeat' of Grindlewald during the post-war years to get him installed in the Wizengamot as was normal for an Order of Merlin, First Class awardee. He made many inroads in getting on various boards and committees to supposedly get better treatment for muggleborns and other light-sided Families. In reality, he was laying the groundwork for his eventual elevation to Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump in the IWC.

*****Some of the legislation that Albus was the secret backer for included bills that made it more difficult for incoming muggleborns to learn about the current wizarding culture and etiquette so as to foster the animosity between the highborn pureblood classes and mudbloods, Half-breed creatures would find many of their previous rights and access to services severely curtailed. The Centaurs of the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts found their territory cut in half and some of the more vocal opponents were culled from the herd under the guise of being 'rebellious.'

*****Despite his best efforts, the one group that resisted all manipulations by Albus were the Goblins. They asserted that they were a separate nation and had numerous treaties to back up that claim. They also casually mentioned that the entire island of magical Britain used Gringotts as their sole banking institution so if the 'Mot and its constituents really got 'uppity,' the Goblins would merely shut their doors and let the country go to pot while waiting for cooler heads to prevail. Then they'd write out a new treaty…

*****Albus had also laid the groundwork for any books and histories written about him by gifting an enchanted necklace to Bathilda Bagshot, the celebrated author of A History of Magic and many other works. The necklace would compel her to write favorably about him no matter the truth. The way he saw it, after enough copies had been published with the altered reality, the sheep of Magical Britain wouldn't question things.

**As Deputy Headmaster at Hogwarts**

*****Dumbledore restarted or refined his efforts of controlling the minds and hearts of the future generations during his tenure as Transfiguration teacher and as Deputy Headmaster. He forced the elves of the castle to include alchemical potions he'd devised into the food and drinks of the students and staff to make them more susceptible to suggestion and pliable. He was fully aware of the predations of a young Tom Marvolo Riddle, both in the orphanage in which the boy was found and later in Slytherin House where he was sorted.

*****Through his access to the school's wards, Dumbledore was fully aware of Riddle's descent into darkness. Albus was fully aware and heartily approved of the young boy's usage of the serpent that lay in the fabled Chamber of Secrets to petrify several students and only feigned shock and horror when poor Myrtle Warren was killed in 1945.

*****When Albus had returned from his meeting with young Tom Riddle at Wool's Orphanage, he began formulating plans to guide Riddle to becoming his ultimate weapon in guiding the magical world to his vision of the Greater Good.

*****Headmaster Dippet wasn't the addle-brained moron that many assumed he was. Most of his slide towards dementia was due to being potioned by Albus to get various rules and decrees passed the way Albus wanted them.

* * *

Harry pulled his head out of the pensieve and burst out into tears unashamedly. He distantly felt Hermione's arms wrapping around his shoulders and vaguely heard her whispering comforting things in his ears. Slowly shaking his head, he managed to slow his tears and his heavy breathing.

"I can't believe that he was so…so…_that! _He's a monster…"

Hermione nodded understandingly, "I know, Harry. However it gets worse when you get to what he did as Headmaster and in the time between seventy-one and now. From what I saw, there were multiple instances of him practicing eugenics and pairing people who would've ordinarily never gotten together. He is directly responsible for the dilution of many pureblood bloodlines for the simple reason of 'seeing what would happen if I did this.'"

Harry sat there slumped in his chair as his mind tried to process what he'd learned. Shaking his head to dispel the growing hatred and anger, he sat up and declared that they would wage war upon the old goat. Hermione raised an eyebrow in silent query; his responding grin would've sent chills down the spine of even the most blood-thirsty Goblin.

* * *

_**In the halls of the school…**_

'_What the hell is wrong with this castle?'_ grumbled Albus in the privacy of his mind. Things had begun to resemble that bizarre day when he went in search of his staff and had to contend with a student population out of control.

First the heat went out and so he began to bundle up with as many layers as he could find. Then the heat kicked back on full, forcing him to divest himself of those layers he had _just put on!_ The problem of the heat continued, getting hotter and hotter until he was down to his undershorts. The occupants of the portraits fled to cooler climes as their paint began to drip. Even Fawkes had fled when the temperature (and probably the sight of a nearly naked Dumbledore) began to take its toll.

He finally decided to flee his office before things could get any worse. Unfortunately, in his opinion, he shouldn't have said that out loud because things did become worse. Doors wouldn't open or if they did, they led nowhere. The enchanted stairs throughout the castle began rearranging themselves to take him on the most circuitous route possible just so he could get one level higher. He couldn't find the bathroom despite standing right in front of it. _'How does anyone place a Fidelius on a bathroom within the castle and without me knowing about it?'_ he raged silently.

At lunch, instead of his usual fare; the elves sent him an old shoe with a hemlock leaf garnish on a bed of rat droppings. That was enough to make just about everyone within sight of the disgusting dish to lose their own appetites. He tried to head out of the castle but found all the doors locked and refusing to open. All the portraits, statues and sculptures within the school now refused to give him assistance or went out of their way to cause him annoyances.

The worst of all, in his opinion, was Peeves. He had been given carte blanche to do whatever he could think of against the headmaster without fear of reprisal. Peeves had taken the art of pranking to a whole new level. Some of those 'pranks' were going to haunt him for years to come, after all finding oneself neck deep in the castle's cesspool after suddenly tripping and falling through an enchanted window, being unable to move because the floor had suddenly turned to quicksand, being the target of all the toilets in the castle regurgitating their pipes' contents whenever he was in the bathroom would put the fear of the old gods into anyone.

* * *

Minerva was searching for her boss when she overheard one of the paintings talk about how another had seen the headmaster barricade himself in one of the many abandoned classrooms and warded it to hell and back. Sighing in exasperation, she made the trek up to the room in question and peered in through the small window built into the door. Through the haze of what appeared to be a small smoky fire burning in a corner, she spotted a ragged figure cowering behind a hastily constructed barricade made from a couple of desks and chairs. Slowly shaking her head in surprise and a bit of disgust when she happened to spot where the old man's bathroom was. Swallowing thickly, she retreated back to her office.

After a wee dram to fortify herself after witnessing that atrocity, she called for Harry and Hermione to present themselves to her. When they entered, curiosity clear on their faces; she quietly recounted what she'd seen then waited. Both students got a bit of a sheepish look on their faces but stood resolute in their demeanor.

"Professor, Hermione and I will not apologize for the current state of our headmaster nor for the events that led to this. Everything we've done or caused to have happen is entirely justified."

A silent and inquiring eyebrow rose.

"After what we witnessed through the memories and recordings of the Diadem regarding Dumbledore through the years, you too would be inspired to take revenge against the old goat," Hermione added.

Minerva leant back in her chair and contemplated their words, "Bring me the pensieve and I'll make that determination for myself." She shooed them out of her office.

* * *

After returning with the pensieve then leaving again, Harry recommended that they have some fun on top of the chaos they'd caused for the headmaster. Turning and cocking her head in question, Hermione wanted a more…detailed description.

Grinning widely, Harry gestured around them, "We have an entire school of students who need a bit of 'livening up' including Umbridge who needs to be taken down another peg. What say you to a bit of old-fashioned pranking? The sort of pranking that the Marauders could only dream about and that the Weasley Twins couldn't possibly imagine?"

* * *

By the end of the month, there was no one in the entire school that wasn't a victim of some sort of prank. The events ranged from simple and sweet (First years getting to all their classes on time or a bit early while everyone else was late) to downright malicious (Umbridge finding herself waking up in the middle of the Great Hall wearing a set of grungy, sweat stained cartoon toad print pajamas clutching a rag doll that resembled Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge with the rest of her belongings on full display in a glass case fully warded against tampering.) At first, the Weasley Twins were blamed but when events started happening while they were in the company of reputable teachers, the students and staff were puzzled as to who else it could've been.

Harry had contacted Sirius via mirror and asked him for suggestions on the premise that if the Marauders had use of a device that allowed unimpeded access to everything within (besides the Map), what would they do? By way of reply, Sirius owl-posted a thick treasure trove of a book containing all of their dreams and plans they never had the opportunity to run. The human population soon found themselves at the mercy of the unseen and unnamed. Every step, every breath, every heartbeat was fraught with the possibility that it would be their last.

Shampoos were spiked with potions that would cause hairstyles to change at random times. Body soap now came in a variety of unusual smells when their user got too warm. Toothpaste tasted more like mayonnaise.

At mealtimes, the food on the plates starting screaming and pleading for mercy when you reached for it with the silverware. The cups started moaning about how good it felt to be suckled and drunk from. The benches started complaining that whoever it was that was sitting on them had gained too much weight.

The Quidditch teams found themselves without their usual brooms. Instead, the Gryffindor team found their brooms replaced by staffs that resembled snakes, the Ravenclaws found their resembled the mops used by Argus Filch, the Hufflepuffs found theirs resembling cute puffy cloud-shaped horsies and the Slytherin team found theirs resembling muggle vacuum cleaners.

Strange clouds of mysterious vapors followed groups of three or more around the school and even onto the grounds. Hagrid even found himself a victim of a cute prank; somehow the unicorns had been talked into wearing a headband that made it look like they'd been shot with an arrow.

Mirrors had been charmed somehow to show not the person using it but of someone from another House and the opposite gender. There had been a lot of screaming and accusations that day! One day, the Houses found themselves switched from their usual living arrangements. Gryffindors and Slytherins found themselves awakening in the others' dorms, Ravenclaws found themselves waking up in the kitchens while the Puffs found themselves waking up in the library.

Even the staff found themselves waking up in unusual locations. To make sure that Minerva didn't go too hard on them, Harry and Hermione made sure to go easy on her. As a result, Minerva found herself waking up in the Headmaster's bedroom. The room was fully furnished with her own belongings while Albus' stuff was unceremoniously dumped outside in the hallway. Professor Sprout found herself waking snuggled up to Hagrid, Professor Snape found himself in a tub surrounded by a large quantity of bottles of shampoo and other hair cleansers. Professor Flitwick found himself waking in the librarian's office (he thought that was funny.)

* * *

**Minerva McGonagall's Office**

After the now legendary "Month of Hell," Harry and Hermione stood once again in Minerva's office. This time though, they weren't in trouble but rather they were now considered witnesses for potential legal proceedings against the headmaster. Minerva had reviewed the contents of the pensieve and immediately contacted the DMLE when she managed to recover from witnessing those horrors. She brought Director Amelia Bones in and showed her the memories, who then in turn started gathering what she needed to take down the bastard. What Amelia needed now was the sworn statement from the two teens on how they discovered Dumbledore's misdeeds. This then led to the explanation of how Harry had found the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw as well as their journey into discovering what its true purpose was and how they went about fixing it. When Harry mentioned that Unspeakable Croaker assisted a bit, Amelia had them pause while she placed a floo call to the DoM and requested his presence to confirm.

Croaker arrived and confirmed that the pair had succeeded where so many before had failed in terms of finding the Diadem and figuring out how to use it. His eyes gleamed with determined curiosity as the two teens recounted their repairs and tests as well as whom it was that helped them. The adults were stunned to hear that the Flamels were still alive and healthy despite the rumors that they'd gone onto their 'Next Great Adventure' when the Stone was supposedly destroyed. Hermione was puzzled at that, the so-called 'Philosopher's Stone' that was recovered in the castle was proven to be a fake so why was it that everyone thought that the Flamels had died? No one had an answer to that but Amelia made a note to find out later.

At the end of their meeting, everyone was once again warned not to go divulging anything that had been discussed there that afternoon. Hermione put the Diadem on again and put the castle's recording under a special file with a password known only to herself.

As they were walking back to their Common Room, Hermione asked Harry if he thought that Director Bones could make her case stick.

Harry shrugged, "I hope so. If not, I think that perhaps a certain envelope containing a copy of the memories should mysteriously appear on the desk of the editor to the Daily Prophet as well as the International Wizard Council."


	11. Chapter 11

**[A/N: This chapter proved to be the toughest. I'm lousy when it comes to describing court proceedings but every story I've read has had the obligatory court scene where they rip apart Dumbledore's reputation. Please don't be too hard on me if it seems to stumble a bit. I also plan on wrapping up this story in this chapter with an epilogue in the next.**

**As for my next story, I think I'll be delving into my list from The Chamber of Contemplative Musings. I'm leaning towards fleshing out the first chapter. If you'd all go and take a look at it and let me know what y'all think, I'd appreciate it.**

* * *

**Ministry for Magic, Courtroom 10**

Amelia Bones glanced around the room over her stack of paper as she prepared to prosecute the biggest case of her career. Because of who it was that would be in the defendant's chair, the Wizengamot had decided to hold the proceedings here in Courtroom 10, the largest of all the courtrooms. Amongst the witnesses were Harry and Hermione; both teens were gawking at the scale and layout of the room as well as whom else was present.

She spotted Harry waving over at Sirius Black, the man had been recently given the trial he should've had from the beginning and had been found not guilty on all counts except being an unregistered Animagus. Even that was commuted to being a tiny fine of 50 Galleons as it was successfully argued that such a skill was essential to surviving a war and being locked away illegally in Azkaban.

The sound of a resigned grunt to her left caused her to turn and see her colleague, Tiberius Ogden, sit heavily in his chair. She gave the elder man a commiserating look; old age and an arthritic knee kept him from presiding over any but the most serious cases. Tiberius waved at Amelia dismissively as she started to rise to offer assistance.

"We all ready here, Amelia?"

She nodded ruefully, "Yes, Chief. The prosecution is ready."

Tiberius grunted then turned to the defense, "Defense? Are you ready?"

Daedelus Doge, a long-time friend of Dumbledore and fairly successful lawyer stood up, "Yes, Chief."

Turning once more to the Auror Guards, "Guards, bring in the prisoner!" The occupants in the room murmured noisily at that call, prompting Chief Ogden to bang his gavel to gain silence.

* * *

Bearing magic-suppressing shackles and wearing a set of prison robes, Albus Dumbledore strode into the room as if he were on a lazy stroll through the grounds of Hogwarts. He smiled smugly at various people and had that trademark 'twinkling eyes' going full tilt. Harry noticed that immediately that many in the crowd started to whisper that it was an outrage that the courts were coming down so hard on the poor headmaster; yet before the old man had entered those same people were hoping the old goat got his due. Harry waved over an Auror and whispered in the man's ear his suspicion that Dumbledore might be activating something enchanted that would cause the mindset of the crowd to change. The Auror's eyes widen a bit and turned sharply towards Albus before nodding and heading over to Chief Ogden.

The two whispered hurriedly and animatedly for a few moments before Chief Ogden motioned for the Auror to sweep for enchanted magical devices the jailers may have missed only for it to come up empty. The Auror paused and thought about it before conjuring up a pair of mirrored glasses and used a sticking charm on them to Albus' face. The uproar caused by that had the Auror explaining to the room of Harry's suspicion (though he kept the teen's name out of it.)

"Before the prisoner was brought in, it was heard amongst the crowd that they hoped that the defendant would get what was his due. Yet after Prisoner Dumbledore entered the room and began his trademark 'twinkling eyes,' the mood had drastically changed and those same people now wished for the courts to release and apologize to Albus for their egregious mistake. It was the observation of a concerned citizen who brought it to my attention. After a careful search of his person, I determined that our jailers had not missed anything physical. This led me to think through what was different and realize that the change in the crowd's mood was directly due to the twinkling eyes. As a result, I've conjured a set of mirrored glasses to prevent this from happening again. If you've noticed, your mood and thinking should've returned to its original state."

Amelia and frankly everyone there was outraged that they had been manipulated so callously by someone who they'd thought was the 'Leader of the Light.' The mood towards Dumbledore took a decidedly darker turn.

Hermione patted Harry on the hand in silent congratulations and she too pondered how the old goat was able to accomplish that task.

* * *

The proceedings began and while Doge was trying his best, that stunt of Albus' in the beginning really put a damper on his strategy of presenting Albus in the best light by showcasing his career as an elder statesman who always had the best in mind for the wizarding population. It was when Hermione was called to the witness stand that things really took a turn for the worst, at least for the defense.

"Please state your name, age and occupation or House."

"Hermione Jean Granger, age 16, Gryffindor House," she replied with just the slightest hitch in her voice.

Doge stood up and began to attempt to discredit her by highlighting several instances where she'd gotten into trouble during her time at Hogwarts such as not following orders by the headmaster to go to the Gryffindor dorms during her first year, being out of bounds at various times, illegal transportation of forbidden creatures, and all sorts of things of such nature leading up to this year. Throughout it all, Hermione remained impassive and quiet.

"Nothing to say, Ms. Granger? You're not going to attempt to defend yourself?" Doge sneered.

Hermione briefly examined her nails before looking over at the odious lawyer, "Hmm? Oh, I was just waiting for you to finish. I was taught it was rude to interrupt when another person is speaking." That caused a bit of laughter from the gallery. Even Doge smirked briefly at her attempt at humor before waving for her to begin to try and explain her circumstances.

Hermione however turned to Chief Ogden, "Instead of verbally replying, may I submit into evidence my memories of said accusations?"

Tiberius leant forward, "It's unusual but I'll allow it. You know how to extract memories?" Hermione nodded and took out her wand. A bailiff stepped forward and collected the memories before placing them in the court pensieve and activating the projector mode. The courtroom witnessed through Hermione's eyes the reality of all of what Doge had accused her of doing either improperly or illegally. The transportation of forbidden creatures was nothing more than bringing in some of the day's lessons for Care of Magical Creatures at the behest of the teacher when it began raining suddenly. The troll incident turned out to be not her fault as she was shown being distraught because of the verbal abuse heaped onto her by Ronald Weasley (Arthur Weasley, the boy's father was in the gallery and swore to have a strongly worded discussion when he got home.)

The memories also contained examples of Hermione being a shining example of a proper and driven student: helping the younger years with their homework, practicing their magic, assisting the house-elves in gaining some representation to the staff and even assisting Argus Filch in keeping the castle clean despite not being in any sort of detention.

* * *

Harry was next up and the list of accusations was even longer than that of Hermione's; starting fights, stealing other people's belongings, destruction of school property and being a lackadaisical student. Just like Hermione, Harry sat through the remonstrations and accusations silently until Doge finally petered out. However, unlike Hermione, Doge had figured out that Harry's silence wasn't due to guilt but merely due to similar politeness.

"Mr. Potter?" Amelia begun, "Would you care to submit your memories of these events as well?" Harry replied that he would indeed. His memories were copied over and projected. Dumbledore's case was in even more dire straits when the truth was revealed. It was clear even to the most addle-brained moron that most if not all of the instances against Harry were blatantly contrived to some carry out some sort of overly Machiavellian plan to test the boy. The Philosopher's Stone was the most telling of these instances.

The courtroom watched transfixed at the sight of a Cerberus followed closely by an infestation of Devil's Snare. Next up was a cloud of charmed flying keys, one of which opened a locked door and could only be achieved by flying a rickety old broom and capturing said key. Once past that, a life-sized board of Wizard Chess had to be played in order to get to the next 'challenge.' That challenge turned out to be a troll but fortunately for the viewers, it had already been dispatched. The potions test was more of a test of logic and there were many in the gallery who were heard as saying they didn't have a clue as how to solve the puzzle. Finally, the courtroom got to witness the discovery of the Mirror of Erised. Those in the know, namely the Unspeakables who were present but under a Disillusionment Charm, were nearly incandescent in rage as that was another thing that had been reported stolen from their domain. Regardless of the outcome of the trial, the Unspeakables swore that Albus would soon disappear…

The memories were paused as Harry pointed out that at that moment, the only magic that had been used was _Alohomora_, a first year spell found in chapter 7 of their Charms textbooks.

"I'd also like to point out that neither Hermione nor I actually went into this 'gauntlet of tests.' These memories you are seeing are the result of wards that allowed us to see them as if we were actually there."

Amelia paused as did most everyone else there did. _'How could this boy's memories been used then if they were not his own?'_

"How is that possible, Mr. Potter? Are you telling us that you did not actually go through these tests?"

Hermione took a deep breath as did Harry. This was the moment where they'd reveal the existence of the Diadem to the wider world.

"No, Ma'am. I was not present during all of what you'd seen. The 'memories' were given to me by Hogwarts herself."

* * *

Pandemonium erupted from the gallery and the Wizengamot.

'_Hogwarts told the boy what happened?' That's not possible, it's just a castle!' _were many of the exaltations being shouted by the occupants of the courtroom.

Chief Ogden banged his gavel before finally shooting off a series of loud bangs to get everyone to quiet down, "I will have order here! This is a court of law not the playground of a daycare!" He turned to face Harry, "Mr. Potter, please explain how the castle was able to impart these 'memories' to you."

Harry sighed as he reached into his bag and pulled out a cloth wrapped object, "Much of what I'm about to explain to you is rather technical in description. If you need further clarification, I ask that you speak with Hermione again. She's the technical genius, so to speak."

"Mr. Potter, approach the bench so that I may see this item first before making my ruling." When Harry showed him the object, Tiberius nearly messed his robes.

Tiberius feverishly contemplated the object in the boy's hand briefly before announcing that what will be revealed shall fall under the Crown's Secrets Act and the magics in the room shall prevent anyone from discussing it outside. This caused a bit of grumbling from the reporters but there was really nothing they could do about it. It was either follow along or get banished from the room.

Harry got a table and chair set up before asking to examine the court pensieve. Unfortunately it did not have the ports like the one he used at Hogwarts.

"Chief Ogden, this pensieve is different from the one we normally use. Could I have an elf go and retrieve our gear from our laboratory at Hogwarts?" Ogden nodded affirmatively so Harry called for an elf and was surprised when Dobby showed up quivering with excitement.

"Hey, Dobby. I need you to go to the Ancient Runes Laboratory and retrieve the pensieve currently being disguised as an ordinary crate. Also, please bring Hermione's gear as well?" He looked up and caught her eye, "Was there anything else you could think of for him to bring back?"

Hermione called back, "Can't think of anything though Dobby, please stick around if anything changes." Dobby nodded frantically and popped out of the room.

* * *

About five minutes later, Dobby popped back in with all of the requested items then took a seat on one of the steps. Hermione had descended from the gallery seating and helped Harry get setup. Their conversation confused everyone within earshot as they used similar jargon from when the whole project got started.

The Chief Justice as well as Amelia and Doge joined the two teens as they continued to get setup. Amelia had asked what was different between the two pensieves and it was explained that the one they were using had two ports on the side of the bowl that allowed for images to be directly loaded without having to go through the 'usual' method using a wand.

Hermione tried to access the castle wards after placing the Diadem on her head only to get a frustrated grimace on her face and a brief shake of her head. She stood there stroking her chin in thought before asking if there was a Ley line somewhere nearby.

"Why do you need one?" asked Doge.

"I need to connect to the school and I don't know if there's a way to do that wirelessly."

"Wirelessly? What's that?" came the confused response from Doge.

Harry interjected that it would take a long-winded discussion to explain given how they were kind of pressed for time. Daedelus allowed for that, so he had no further objections. In the meantime, Hermione was told that the Ministry sat over the convergence of several Ley lines already so she sat down in the chair and sent out a 'TraceConnect' request. While she was doing that, Harry continued to connect the Diadem to her diagnostic gear as well as the pensieve. When she reported back saying that she was connected to the castle and ready to continue, Harry and the others stepped back.

Harry addressed the courtroom and laid out the history of how he'd discovered the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw in a deep storage room within Hogwarts. He then went on to describe their journey to determine just how the Diadem worked, the problems they'd encountered as well as the help they received from several prominent members of magical society.

"Unfortunately I'm not at liberty to tell you their names as we had to swear a confidentiality oath however one of them is an Unspeakable from the Department of Mysteries." That caused a susurration of chatter from the crowd but it did give validity to Harry's explanations. "So without further ado, let me hand things over to Hermione as she demonstrates some of what the Diadem can do."

"Thank you, Harry. Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see in the projection we have the interior of the Great Hall. The students are currently sitting a meal and if we zoom in on the pair of redheaded twins known as Fred and George, we can see they're up to nothing good." Harry was heard chuckling and turned to where he'd spotted their father.

"Mr. Weasley? If you'd come up here please?" The redheaded man got up from his seat and headed up to the front with a confused frown on his face, "Don't worry, Mr. Weasley you're not in trouble. I just want you to write a short message warning the twins not to attempt their prank of spiking the Slytherins drinks with whatever that is. They'll no doubt recognize your writing." Arthur nodded absently as he quickly wrote out the message and handed it off to Harry who in turn handed it off to Hermione. She read the message then sent it along via the connection. The crowd watched as a scrap of parchment appeared next to Fred's plate, the warning clearly visible as was the look of panic on the twins' faces as they jumped to their feet and looked around expectantly only to be disappointed that they couldn't see their father.

Hermione explained what it had just happened and how it was accomplished then she moved onto the reason for why Albus was on trial.

* * *

Over the course of the next two hours, Hermione had the 'memories' of Hogwarts' recordings of Albus' plans and machinations over the course of his time there as both a student as well as an educator played back for all to see. By the end of it, Doge had basically given up seeing as how he'd never be able to refute all that was shown, Albus was still glaring at both Hermione and Harry while the audience was nearly catatonic from the atrocities they'd seen.

In the end there really wasn't very much that Albus' defense could do. He was given the opportunity to defend his actions but in everyone's opinion, all they had to decide was whether or not to sentence him to life in Azkaban, give him the Dementor's Kiss or toss his wrinkled butt through the Veil of Death. Albus did try his best to get opinions swung his way citing his many years as a statesman, a well-loved educator and finally just for the Greater Good but no one was buying his honeyed words any longer; not after what they'd just witnessed.

Harry was just finishing packing up the Diadem when Croaker appeared in the doorway to an antechamber the two teens had moved into. Hermione gasped when she spotted him a moment later.

"Director? Was there something we could help you with?" Harry inquired politely.

Croaker nodded briefly as he entered and shut the door, "As a matter of fact there is. Within the Department of Mysteries is a chamber known as the Hall of Prophecies. One of those prophecies is thought to allude to you and a supposed Dark Lord. After what we've witnessed about Albus and his…plans, I'm inclined to believe it's about him. I would like to take you both down to hear the contents of that prophecy if you're in the mind to do so."

Harry glanced over at Hermione who merely shrugged before turning back to the older man, "Sure, let us just finish here."

* * *

The three took the lift back up to level 9 and entered the slightly creepy and ominous domain of the Unspeakables. Hermione was intrigued by the rotating antechamber that led to other rooms. When she commented on how the Unspeakables knew which door led where, Harry pointed down to the floor. There at their feet was a ghostly reflection of the hidden words supposedly written on the doors themselves.

Croaker turned and stared at Harry, obviously impressed, "Good catch, Mr. Potter. Not many new operatives nor the rare visitors ever catch onto that trick so quickly." Harry just blushed in mild embarrassment.

Upon entering the Hall, Croaker led the two towards Row 97 and pointed to where the prophecy orb lay on the shelf. The identification tag read, "February 1980 SPT to APWBD: Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter."

"Only those whom the tag indicates is allowed to retrieve and hear the contents, Mr. Potter," Croaker explained as Hermione tried to reach out and take the orb. She quickly snatched her hand back. So Harry reached out and plucked it off the shelf and looked at Croaker expectantly. He was directed to tap the orb with his wand and say, "Begin" or "Stop" as was warranted.

A harsh raspy voice emanated from the orb, _"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal but he shall have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"_

* * *

Silence…

"What a load of waffle!"

Both Harry and Croaker turned to Hermione in surprise. The dismayed and frankly disgusted girl was shaking her head in bemusement and a bit of anger.

"That's what everyone is getting up in arms about? What a bunch of drivel." Croaker asked her to explain her reasoning.

"First, the name of this Dark Lord is never mentioned and neither is the one who is supposed to vanquish the other. The parents could've been asked three requests as simple as 'Will you hand me that quill' then two 'Pleases' and replied each time with a 'No.' Next you have the being born as the seventh month dies; according to which calendar? The Gregorian? Hebrew? Arabic? Each one is different. Heck, _September_ could be counted as being the death of the seventh month. 'Sept' being seven and 'ember' being the death of a flame or life."

Harry pondered this, "What about the vanquishing part? I could challenge this supposed Dark Lord to a video game battle and defeat him…or her, in one on one digital combat."

Hermione gestured to what her boyfriend said, "That's the other thing, this power that he supposedly knows that the Dark Lord doesn't? When Harry was explaining what the two of us were working on, some of the details regarding my gear were clearly going over Dumbledore's head! He knew not what Harry knew!"

Croaker contemplated in stunned awe at the way these two were disseminating the possibilities from the prophecy. The way these two operated was nothing else he'd ever witnessed in his decades of being Director.

Holding up a finger, he inquired about the part about the marking as his equal. Here both teens gave a grunt, Harry spoke up though, "That could be as simple as the fact that neither one of us really knew our parents. I lost mine to that raving lunatic Voldemort while Dumbledore was too psychotic to really connect with his."

"What about the part where one has to die at the hand of the other?"

"That one's easy," explained Hermione, "Harry here could contract with you or the DMLE to string the Dark Lord up to a bundle of explosives, hung from a rope while standing on a bucket, any number of things. Then all Harry has to do is pull the trigger, kick the bucket out of the way, et cetera."

Croaker was nodding along with all of their explanations before sighing, "Unfortunately, we won't know if Albus is the Dark Lord spoken of until his execution though I am curious as to what your views are regarding Voldemort, Mr. Potter?"

Harry thought carefully, "If he is the one referred to in this as the Dark Lord, then I would still contract with you to round him up and whatever else it is that's kept him alive so I can toss his sorry butt through the Veil. I'm guessing that this Veil is what it sounds like, instant and irreversible death?" Croaker tilted his head in agreement, "then that's what I want to do. I have my OWLs coming up within a month and I don't want to be distracted by anything."

**[A/N2: Again and always, please review to let me know if anything could be improved upon. I'll decide what Albus' fate will be in the beginning of the next chapter. I hope all my loyal fans are staying safe in these troubled times. Next chapter will definitely be the epilogue, it probably won't be as long as this one but we'll see…]**


	12. Chapter 12

**[A/N: Well, here we are at the end of the story. It's been a lot of fun doing the research for this story and its components. I, as always, greatly appreciate the wonderful reviews everyone's left and all of the favorites and follows that this has received. I'm already working on coming up with a new story, stay tuned!]**

* * *

_**While Harry, Hermione and Croaker were in the DoM…**_

The Wizengamot were sequestered in an adjoining room deliberating as to what sort of suitable punishment for Albus Dumbledore should be. The usual 'Chuck 'em or Kiss 'em' had been suggested and discarded. A hefty fine against Albus' vault was suggested but when Amelia leveled a hard inquisitorial glare at the man, the Mot member sheepishly admitted that he'd hoped it would go to the Ministry coffers (his own).

"Come on people! There has to be _some_ sort of suitable punishment!" she groused unhappily. She noticed that one of the younger members shifting uncertainly on their feet, "What is it, Maggie? You have an idea?"

Margaret Mann of the Ancient House of Westerly fidgeted under the scrutiny of the elder Mots, "Well…how about we give him the same treatment a previous Mot court gave to Argus Filch?"

Confused murmurs were heard in the room, _'Argus Filch? The caretaker of Hogwarts?'_

Emboldened a bit, Margaret continued, "Back in the early 1960s, Argus 'Filch' Robertson was convicted of Grand Theft from several pureblood families. He was the one behind the then mysterious disappearances of family grimoires. When he was convicted, the Mot bound his magic to that of a squib and forced him to work as nothing greater than a caretaker in the school. He's forever locked there to see the members of those families he stole from grow and prosper. That's why he's so bitter."

That caught many by surprise. They'd had no idea as to the history behind that cranky old bastard and why he remained in the magical world. It was generally accepted that squibs were forced out to the muggle world.

Amelia glanced at Tiberius who nodded thoughtfully, "It would solve our main problem though what about his age? If he were made a squib, or near enough to it, his advanced age would probably kill him."

Augusta Longbottom interjected that perhaps instead of squibbing him, they ought to leave him at about the level of a low-grade first year student, "That way he can still use enough magic to produce a _Lumos_ and prevent premature death. We could also see about de-aging him a bit to something like his mid-50s? His current age and physical ability would knock him down within a year if he had to clean the castle as a near-squib."

The Mot started making approving noises as they hashed out the old man's punishment.

* * *

**Courtroom 10, a few minutes later**

"Hear ye! Hear ye! Court is now resumed, please take your seats!" Bellowed the bailiff as everyone in the gallery scrambled to find their seats. Harry and Hermione were already in place and leant forward to hear the results from the Mot's deliberation.

Albus, still manacled in the defendant's chair, began to sweat nervously and his hands could be seen trembling slightly.

Chief Warlock Tiberius Ogden stood slowly, hampered by his bad knee, "It is the determination that the punishment of Albus Dumbledore shall be the following:

* He shall have his magic bound down to the level of a low-grade first year student.

* He shall be banned for life from holding any sort of teaching or leadership position.

* A 'Knowledge Fidelius' shall be enacted so that no one will ever remember his previous accomplishments. This is to prevent anyone from falling prey to his honeyed words of past glories or tempting them to try to emulate them.

* He shall be remanded to the permanent position of assistant caretaker to Argus Filch at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry under the supervision of the Headmistress.

* He shall be forced to undergo a runic mental compulsion at Saint Mungo's that will prevent him from speaking or writing to the students and staff. Should he try, he will only be able to utter or write babbling nonsense. Additionally, the defendant shall be given a de-aging potion to reset his body to that of someone at the median age and physical condition in their mid-50s. The costs shall be taken from the defendant's vault.

* The contents of the defendant's vault and everything of monetary value the defendant owns shall be evaluated and sold at a reasonable amount to pay for the restitution to his many victims should they still live.

* * *

_**Up in the witness gallery…**_

Both teens were shocked by the ruling of the Wizengamot; Hermione more so than Harry; the look of relief on his face was clearly evident. As everyone was leaving, Hermione held him back.

"Let's allow everyone else to clear out first, less of a crowd we need to navigate. In the meantime, care to explain why the look of relief? I would've thought you'd be more bloodthirsty than this."

Harry pursed his lips as he thought about his answer, "I think that this punishment is just as 'bloodthirsty' as it could get for someone with Dumbledore's personality. If he were a mere murderer or something then yeah, I would hope for something bloody, like being shot out of a cannon into a brick wall or being fed alive, smeared with barbeque sauce, to a rabid pack of wolves. Since he's a manipulative sociopath, this punishment would drive him insane after awhile. Imagine all of your knowledge of books and love of learning being removed from your mind then being banned from ever entering any library around the world? You'd go nuts in short order! With him, being forgotten is just as bad. He's always been the one who craves the attention of others regardless of how it came around. Remember all those accomplishments he's stolen from their proper creators and authors? He's been the top of the heap for years and now he's the lowest of the low. Being an assistant to Argus Filch and having to scrub toilets until he dies? The students will be right vicious and vindictive against him as they are to Mr. Filch. Never be remembered as the great statesman or the headmaster of the premier magical school? Never remembered as the Supreme Mugwump or Chief Warlock? The ignominy will kill him faster than having to push a broom or mop a hallway."

Hermione's head slowly nodded as she contemplated her boyfriend's answer, "Never again allowed to influence others, never again to lead and always forced to be at the back. No more condescending grandfather routine, no more manipulations, no more 'Greater Good.' I guess I can live with that. I'm still surprised though, I would've thought they'd want to make him hurt physically or magically."

Harry harrumphed a bit, "Can you imagine what it'd be like to be forced to work in the castle and never being able to do more magic than someone like a first-year Crabbe or Goyle? Seeing everyone around you learning and gaining accomplishments during their time there? Generations of students surpassing him in every way? That's what's going to make him hurt. Psychological versus physical…"

* * *

**Hogwarts, Runes Laboratory**

Hermione was busy puttering around with her diagnostic gear while Harry was just sitting in a chair watching her flutter around between the tables. He idly shuffled his Runic Cards and inwardly smiled to himself over the events that had taken place during the school year. Life was shaping up pretty good in his opinion. His eyes shifted over to the door as he heard someone entering.

"Mr. Potter? Miss Granger? What are you two doing indoors on such a nice day? Shouldn't you be preparing for your OWL tests?" Professor McGonagall, now Headmistress, asked him.

Taking a deep breath, sneaking a quick glance at his girlfriend and letting out a mildly frustrated sigh Harry replied, "Just taking a break from the bookwork, Headmistress. Hermione was racking up some serious stress levels and I know that my own blood pressure was taking a beating so we came here to relax a bit." Minerva settled into an available chair and smiled at Hermione who was oblivious to anything else.

"She still flutters about, eh?" Minerva inquired as she gestured to where the younger girl was apparently _talking_ to her oscilloscope.

Harry chuckled, "Yeah, but she wouldn't be Hermione if she didn't. Oh, I've been meaning to ask you but whatever happened to the Professor Umbridge? I heard she was sacked?"

Minerva let out a healthy growl at the mention of the Toad's name, "Yes, when the evidence came to light, thanks in part to the school's security system as well as eyewitness testimony; she was sacked on the spot and arrested by the DMLE on various charges. Last I heard, she'll be spending quite a bit of time in Azkaban for her crimes."

Harry cocked his head in surprise, "No creative punishment like they did with Dumbledore? Just chuck her in Azkaban and done with?"

Pursing her lips a bit, Minerva leaned over and whispered, "I would've rather seen her magic be bound down and have her forced into the muggle world to live out her life in squalor but apparently the Mot can only give one creative punishment per sitting session."

Harry snorted, "Can you picture Dolores Umbridge trying to live in the muggle world? She'd have pissed off someone within a day and gotten herself shot or something. I can see her working at a Tesco or Aldi as a low-end hourly employee just barely being able to afford a cheap flat somewhere. Ha! That would be hilarious."

* * *

Eventually, Hermione noticed that the Headmistress was in the room and joined the two for a spot of conversation.

"So what's the plan for the Diadem, Headmistress? Will you be displaying it here in the castle or just squirrel it away somewhere?" The younger girl asked curiously.

Minerva shrugged demonstratively, "No idea right now. It's being discussed by the senior staff; I'm all in favor of displaying it for a while but Professor Sprout has not-so-jokingly suggested that we have it under armed guard since Albus is still here. I'd hate to have him try to steal that too." That had Harry and Hermione chuckling.

"So, Mr. Potter; after all that's happened this year, have you given any more thought as to what you wanted to do with your life? I know that originally you wanted to be an Auror like your father and your godfather."

Harry laced his fingers behind his head and thought about it, "I don't really know now. I know I want to do something creative and beyond what is traditionally offered here. I found a book in Flourish and Blotts that covers a huge range of potential jobs and careers. I made a list of possible opportunities and," he glanced around and between the three of them he whispered conspiratorially, "We've been in contact with the Flamels and have been offered an intern position at their laboratory."

Minerva's eyes widened comically and her mouth practically hit the floor! "That, that's an incredible offer, Mr. Potter! I didn't even know they were still alive after that debacle with their Stone back in '91. What sort of internship are they offering?"

Harry shrugged, "Dunno yet. They want me to at least get an Exceeds Expectation across the board on my OWLs before we get together to decide what field I want to go into. On top of that, Director Croaker's interested in getting the pair of us into the DoM as well. Again, he too wants a minimum of Exceeds Expectations. He's mentioned that those who get Outstandings tend to burn out faster and aren't as open-minded."

Minerva turned to her other favorite student, "What about you Miss Granger? Are you still interested in becoming a spell crafter?"

Grimacing a bit Hermione shook her head, "After all this? I don't think so. I want to take what I've learned with the Diadem and see about expanding its abilities and possibilities. Imagine being able to connect with the muggle internet and share it and the technology and magic that went into its creation with everyone in the world? Plus, there are so many disparities in magical technology that needs to be standardized. For example, we have the ability to apparate or use the Floo Network to teleport ourselves across vast distances nearly instantaneously yet still rely on quills and candlelight? Owls to send messages and packages? In the muggle world, they have cell phones and the internet that allow for quicker and more efficient methods of communications. I want to find a way to ease the transition from two separate worlds into one."

Minerva looked pensive, "But that would break the Statute of Secrecy!"

"The Statute was written nearly four hundred years ago. Back then there really wasn't much of a difference in society or ability, beyond the magical part. Goods were shipped using horses and carts or on boats. Candlelight and quills were normal as was using carrier birds for secret communication. But where the magical world stagnated, the muggle world surged ahead and found new, more efficient and cleaner ways of doing business and living their lives. The Statute is a relic of bygone days and should be repealed gradually."

Minerva shook her head slightly, "But the shock to both worlds… In all my time going out and visiting the muggleborns and their families, it's always a shock to find out that their child is magical. The flip side would be as much of a shock if not greater; can you imagine foisting the advancements of the muggle world onto ours? I've seen a muggle telly…something before and using that as an example would cause the hidebound traditionalists to break out in fits."

Waving her hand in a conciliatory manner Hermione responded, "That would be something that needs to be researched. How to slowly integrate the two worlds together."

"It would have to be something small at first," Harry interjected, "I wouldn't try to drop the concept of a computer without having to explain the history and development getting to that point."

Minerva could see that this was something that would be a passionate topic of discussion for years to come for Hermione. She wished the two teens well and got up to head outside.

"Headmistress?" Hermione called out before Minerva exited, "What about a teaching position at some point in the future? A complete and total revamp of the Muggle Studies class?"

Minerva cocked her head in thought before gesturing with a finger at the younger girl, "I'll tell you what, Miss Granger. Go and make your mark with the research and internship with the Flamels or the DoM then come find me. I like the idea of modernizing what we teach. Now, if you'll excuse me? I have to coordinate with Professor Flitwick over the continuation of the organization of the Room of Requirement."

* * *

**Caretaker's Office aka 'The Domain of Argus Filch,' 'The Room of Despair.'**

Argus Filch was a much happier man these days, especially since the once famous and powerful Albus Dumbledore had been laid low for his crimes. Instead of endlessly trying in vain to keep the castle clean, and suffering in his advancing age, he now had an assistant to do all of the menial and dirty work that his aching back and hands could no longer accomplish. The former headmaster used to hold his job over Argus' head for the longest time; always claiming that if he (Argus) didn't do as was expected of him, the headmaster would fire him and boot him and Mrs. Norris from the castle. Now the tables had been turned and it was Argus in a position of power over the old man and boy, did it feel _good!_

'_What should I have the bastard do today?'_ he pondered as he shifted to find a more comfortable position in his chair. Mrs. Norris was off hunting mice or misbehaving students. Just then there was a knock on his door. He looked up and spotted a Slytherin 7th year standing hesitantly in the doorway.

"What do you want?" he sneered menacingly.

"Um, I thought you'd want to know that Dumbledore is passed out drunk in an abandoned classroom on the fifth floor."

An evil glint was seen in Argus' eyes, "Is that so? Well then, why don't you show me where that idiot has holed himself up in?" As he headed out the door, the student heard Argus muttering loud enough to be clearly heard, "By the way, did you know that the students are allowed to mete out punishment against him as well?"

* * *

_**In an abandoned classroom…**_

Albus was drunk again. Stinking, drooling drunk and had been ever since being handed this intolerable punishment by that ungrateful Wizengamot! All he had tried to do for the magical world, all he had accomplished and his future plans…gone. No one remembered his past glories and every time he tried to educate them, he turned into a babbling idiot! It was maddening! The students who ordinarily would've been in awe of his presence now treated him in contempt and scorn. Even the new first years were spotted whispering and pointing at him as he pushed his broom across the floor in a vain attempt to keep his area clean.

'_I must try and get my magic back. I have no idea as to how but I shall prevail!'_ he thought over and over during his more lucid moments. One person featured heavily in his plans for retribution, Harry Potter. He had no idea as to how the brat managed to bring him down but he was sure there was something.

"GET UP YOU LAZY, GOOD FOR NOTHING REPROBATE!" The unwelcome yell of Albus' new boss blared in his ear. A second later, the thump of the sour man's boot impacted on his hip and sent Albus off the broken couch he was laying on; his whiskey bottle clattering to the floor and leaking the remnants out. Albus let out an inarticulate cry as his liquid courage evaporated before him. It would take him at least a week before he could get more!

"You're not here to laze about and get drunk! You got a bathroom to muck out on the second floor, don't let Myrtle tell you otherwise this time. I want it to be spotless. Get moving you great lump," Argus growled out.

* * *

**Headmistress' Office**

There was no one in the room. It was silent except for the whisper of the curtains blowing gently in the open window. Even the portraits were silent or otherwise in other parts of the castle. Well, there was no one alive in the room. The Sorting Hat was sitting on its shelf and communing with the castle. They were watching over Albus and his most recent attempts to unplug a recalcitrant toilet.

"How the mighty have been laid low, eh my dear?" inquired the Hat.

"Indeed, Hat. How long have we watched and waited for the right person to come along and topple him off his self-made pedestal?" She took a closer look at what Albus was struggling with and turned to her companion, "How much longer are you going to keep him struggling with that toilet?"

The Hat shrugged his figurative shoulders and released the magic holding back the plug. The sudden release caused Albus to fall back onto his butt and be showered with the contents of the pipe.

"Better?" he asked sardonically.

The castle shook her head, "You're incorrigible," She then spotted the Weasley Twins trying to sneak up on Luna Lovegood and sent a private mental message to the young blonde. Luna turned and spotted the redheaded devil twins and smirked knowingly at them. The twins just slunk off to find a better target. Luna, meanwhile, let her eyes slide upwards and smiled serenely at the ceiling.

**Fin…**


End file.
